


Back When They Still Lived Underground

by gaylie



Series: bwtslots [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alcoholism, Depression, Gen, M/M, Trauma Recovery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-05
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-02-28 18:29:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 55,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13277352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaylie/pseuds/gaylie
Summary: After living underground for ten years and setting up their lives, Papyrus decides to move with Sans out of the capital to a more quiet, friendly town. Neither of them have expected to end up moving into the neighborhood of someone, whom they assumed they might as well never see again.A sequel fic based onBack When They Still Lived On The SurfaceBeta-Read fromcomic4244Updates every other Friday/Saturday (depending on your timezone)





	1. Nobody Background-Checks a fucking Bar for no Reason

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Back When They Still Lived On The Surface](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5650603) by [gaylie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaylie/pseuds/gaylie). 



> This fic-verse also has a tumblr dedicated to it, which is [@perhapshomo](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/perhapshomo)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay. okay. this sequel is gonna need a bit of a long disclaimer
> 
> **Disclaimer  
>  This fic is not 'officially' fic-canon to the bwtslots-verse**
> 
> reasons for that are, that there WAS a 'future after bwtslots' that me and a friend originally thought up, and it was... something. it wasn't this. it probably wouldn't have been as people-pleasing. but it was something and i want to stay loyal to it.  
> i also want to tend to my broken heart, though, which is why this fic exists. you could call it an AU to the bwtslots AU, you could call it canon in your kokoro. it surely is canon in my kokoro because my kokoro is hurt and i need this.  
> (translators note: kokoro means heart)  
> another reason is, though, that i like the ending of bwtslots (oddly, even tho its kinda a mess) and i like open-ends and i dont like sequels that push the material too far. so if you want bwtslots to be something that had a good run and now ends this good run? sure! bwtslots is over. this is merely a new AU based on bwtslots but not a canon sequel.  
> unless you want it to be  
> you know what?  
> this fic is whatever you want it to be
> 
> have a good one

"so, this is it, huh?"  
"THIS IS IT!" Papyrus agreed, much more enthusiastically than his brother. Looking up at their new house, a two story house with a basement for Sans to keep his machine at, Papyrus felt like this had been the right choice after all.

"so paps?" Sans mused out loud, as he used his magic to help Papyrus move cartons into the empty house. "why 'xactly here? why snowdin?"

Why Snowdin? Well, it had been a very thought through decision for Papyrus.

The Capital had done them good in its own way. It had given Papyrus the chance to finish school and given Sans the chance to find work as a lab assistant, where he not just earned enough money to afford them a small place to live, but also enabled Sans to learn some about things that actually interested him.

It had gone relatively well for some years. Some years where they had no other choice but to work hard and work together to live. Some years where Sans' lab job was all that kept them stable. Some years where things were too hectic, too busy for anyone to consider if things were really _good_ or if they just _were._  
And then Papyrus finished school. Got a job that paid well enough for their living situation.

And suddenly Sans quit his job.

They'd talked about it, of course, or rather had a big, blown up fight about it. It wasn't that Papyrus _wanted_ to be angry, he just had hoped things would not suddenly go _bad_ once he finished school and got a job, like he did something _wrong._ But Sans had said it wasn't Papyrus' fault, Sans had said he's hated his job since the moment he started, which Papyrus just didn't understand. He seemed to have so much fun there, seemed to learn new things every day, things he found interesting.

But suddenly Sans was saying he’s hated it, it sapped every kind of life-energy from him and left him an empty shell. Sans was saying that, of course he loved to do it, because he loved Papyrus and he loved giving him a chance to finish school and live under a roof and have three meals every day. And the cost was worth it.

But now they didn’t need Sans’ income anymore, so he quit.

And it would be perfectly fine, too, if it meant Sans was feeling better.

But he didn't.

It almost was like, after moving to the underground, all that had kept Sans alive at all had been his work he's apparently hated so much. He suddenly wasn't getting out of bed anymore. He suddenly wasn't eating anymore or eating too much. If he went grocery shopping then only by teleporting, saying that there were too many people to deal with if he actually went out. Teleporting to the store was already enough of an act.

Of course things couldn't stay this way, Papyrus knew that. He didn't want to force his brother into a new job, though, not when he said he's loathed his old one so much, so he had to find something else to change.

And after finding a sentry job at a small town not too far from the Capital, Papyrus thought he knew just well what that change might be.

Snowdin was supposed to be nice. The living prices were cheap, due to not a lot of people moving or _wanting_ to move there. They only had a few shops, a library, a pub, an inn. There wasn't supposed to be a lot of action, but it sounded just like what Sans might need. A quiet place, with little people, but everyone that lived there knew their neighbor by name and more. A place where Sans and Papyrus could make friends, where they could start anew as functioning adults in a house, independent of anyone else.

Papyrus didn't know what exactly the sentry job involved. Apparently he just had to look out for unusual activity around the outskirts of the small town, but it sounded just fine. Not exactly fitting to his qualifications, but it would do just fine. It paid, paid enough for the house they'd rented, paid enough to provide Sans a life that might help him get out of his slump.

To Papyrus that was enough. To Papyrus that would _always_ be more than enough. He loved his older brother with all his might, and after Sans having to give up so much to provide for Papyrus, this was the least Papyrus could do for him in exchange.

Not that there had ever been a sense of exchange, a sense of paying back, all the brothers did for each other they did unconditionally, ever and always.

"I JUST THOUGHT IT LOOKED VERY FRIENDLY," Papyrus answered his brother, grin wide as he closed the door to the frosty outside, taking his shoes off to not spread snow water in their new home. Sans, of course, didn't bother as much. Oh well. Papyrus had planned to give the floor a good scrubbing anyways.

"yea?" Sans asked curiously. "almost would'a've thought you finally got a liking for puns."

Papyrus narrowed his eyes as he watched his brother. "WHATEVER COULD YOU MEAN...?"

Sans just shrugged. "'m sure you'll see once we get our first snowstorm," he said and left it at that.

Oh well. His brother was an enigma sometimes that was better left unsolved. Especially if said solving apparently involved puns and other foolery, Papyrus had no intention to be involved in such.

"so, where you want me to put my boxes, papster?" Sans was actually carrying both of his two boxes in his arms now, though Papyrus could still see he was using magic to take the actual weight off the lifting.

"OH!!! OUR ROOMS ARE UPSTAIRS!" The taller excitedly explained, dashing up the stairs with three boxes stacked in his arms. Sans groaned a little when he found out he had to walk _stairs_ now to get to his room – not that he hadn't to get to their old apartment, or that he couldn't teleport there – but he followed his enthusiastic brother nonetheless.

 

Papyrus stood in front of their work proudly, arms akimbo with a wide smile.  
They didn’t own a lot yet, just an old table and couch they managed to bring from their apartment for the living room. Papyrus room had a desk and his PC, a bed and a shelf. Sans room was even barer, having only a mattress – he said they shouldn’t bother bringing the bed frame, that it was too old anyways and he was just going to buy a new one once they had the money – and a nightstand with lamp.  
They didn’t own a lot, but it was _theirs_ and in _their house_ starting _their_ new life. That alone made the place already feel a lot more welcoming than their old apartment. Sans seemed to feel at home, too, already lying on the couch and dozing off.

It _was_ getting late, though Papyrus remembered they hadn’t eaten since they arrived.

“WHAT DO YOU SAY? FIRST GROCERY TRIP OR EATING DINNER OUT AT THE PUB?” Papyrus suggested excitedly. His brother opened one eye socket lazily, looking at him as he spoke.

“instant noods,” he slurred.

Papyrus huffed offended. “WE WILL NOT HAVE INSTANT NOODLES OUR FIRST DAY IN OUR NEW HOME!!! THIS WILL BE A SPECIAL DINNER FOR A SPECIAL OCCASION!”

“alright, a’right,” Sans replied chuckling slightly. “gotcha. le’s go out then? pub sounds nice.”  
“PUB IT IS!!!” The younger brother declared, before marching over to Sans, lifting him up and helping him get dressed to leave the house.

Papyrus had a map of the whole town. It really _was_ small, probably less than two hundred inhabitants. The pub was only a five minute walk away from them, which seemed really convenient, Papyrus thought.

He thought, until they stood in front of the place and Sans hand suddenly went slack in his, body going rigid. Papyrus looked to his brother surprised, seeing him stare slightly angled upwards. So Papyrus looked up. And his hand went slack in Sans’, body going rigid.

On retrospect, maybe Papyrus should’ve done more research about this place before moving here after all. Maybe he should’ve checked out the specific stores and places they had, done a small kind of background check.

But in his defense, there was probably no way Papyrus could’ve known or guessed the local pub would be named after his own brother’s ex.

The ex that had left him ten years ago with no warning or explanation. The ex Sans had been trying to contact and get in touch with for months, only to get no kind of response. The ex that had left them when they were alone and scared, having almost no one and nothing to rely on. The ex, whom’s disappearance had broken Sans enough for him to take on extreme measurements, measurements Papyrus didn’t – _never_ wanted to think of. The ex, whom Sans had _still_ loved after that, _still_ had looked for him after that, seeking out his help.

Only to come back empty handed, alone.

Papyrus was not sure what to think of this development.

He thought he should be happy. Grillby was _back_ and that meant him and his brother could catch up, discuss what happened and rekindle their relationship. Except… Papyrus _wasn’t_ really happy. Papyrus _didn’t_ really know if… if they _should_ rekindle their relationship. Not after what Grillby did. How he left Sans, _when_ he left Sans.

Did Grillby deserve a second chance? Absolutely. Everyone did. Papyrus strongly believed that everyone could be a good person, if they just tried hard enough.  
Did Papyrus _want_ to give him a second chance? ...No. Not really. Sans had been hurt so much. Sans had gone through so much shit that could’ve been avoided if Grillby had just _been there._

Was it up to Papyrus to decide whether or not he got a second chance?

Well.

No.

And he wouldn’t _made_ it his decision either, just… He _would_ still look out for his brother.

“ACTUALLY,” Papyrus said. “I THINK SOME MICROWAVE HOT DOGS SOUND NICE FOR TONIGHT. I KNOW YOU LIKE THEM, AND THIS IS YOUR BIG DAY, TOO.”

Sans hesitated, before looking up at his brother surprised. He knew, of course, what Papyrus was doing. But he couldn’t quite figure out _why._

But… He wasn’t going to pass on a chance to avoid responsibilities.

“yea,” Sans replied. “cool. you’re the best, bro.”  
Papyrus cackled. “I KNOW I AM!”

And as the best, Papyrus was going to make sure his brother wasn’t going to get hurt again.

 

Sans went to bed early. It’d been a long day, what with moving to a whole new town and all, so Papyrus understood and didn’t stop him. He also didn’t stop him because that gave him the chance to put his shoes and jacket back on, leaving the house before it was too late.

Grillby’s, as the pub was called, was already closed when Papyrus arrived. Though the door itself was still open, and this _was_ a private matter rather than Papyrus visiting a pub, so the skeleton decided to let himself in, letting the door fall back close behind him once he entered the empty bar.

He didn’t _want_ to be rude or invasive, but this was an important matter.

“The bar is closed,” a soft, a too familiar voice said. Too familiar, yet foreign after not having seen the monster in _ten years._

“HELLO GRILLBY!” Papyrus said, trying to sound normal. Trying to sound happy.  
He wasn’t sure _what_ he had expected. That this was a big misunderstanding? That the place was just called ‘Grillby’s’ because the owner thought it was a fun name? Because another monster called Grillby worked there?  
Well. That wasn’t it. And if Papyrus hadn’t realized before, he knew as soon as the elemental turned around, having been cleaning the shelves behind the bar with his back to the door, now facing the skeleton.

He had changed. Of course he had, he was an adult now, a bar owner. He was wearing a white shirt, black west over it with a matching black bow tie. His almost _iconic_ shades were replaced by regular glasses.

“...Papyrus,” the elemental spoke, his voice hesitant. Shocked.

“YES! I AM QUITE SURPRISED TO SEE YOU, TOO!” Papyrus replied quickly. “WELL, PROBABLY NOT AS MUCH AS YOU, CONSIDERING THIS PLACE IS CALLED ‘GRILLBY’S.’”

Grillby was quiet, watching Papyrus tentatively as he talked. As if he was trying to figure out if it was really him. As if he was trying to figure out if this was real.  
Then he suddenly smiled. Softly, but wide. “...It’s so good to see you,” he said. “How’s your brother doing?”

“OH!!! WE’LL SEE,” Papyrus decided to reply. “I AM HOPING SNOWDIN WILL DO HIM GOOD.”

“You… You _moved_ here…?”

“WE DID!!!” Papyrus confirmed quickly.

“...I suppose the Capital wouldn’t really be your thing, would it?” The flame said it with a small laugh, but the words caused Papyrus to narrow his eyes.

“I DO NOT REMEMBER TELLING YOU WE LIVED AT THE CAPITAL,” Papyrus replied suspiciously. Grillby blinked surprised.

“Oh… I just assumed… Most monsters from the campsite moved to the Capital after… You know.”  
“OH!” Well. That _did_ make sense. “RIGHT!!!”  
The elemental nodded, motioning to one of the bar chairs to invite Papyrus to sit down. The skeleton gladly took the offer.

“You’re around twenty now, aren’t you?” The flame asked curiously.

“TWENTY-TWO!” Papyrus corrected quickly and Grillby nodded, turning to pick out some glasses.

“Would you like a drink? On the house, of course.”

The skeleton hesitated. Of course he’s tried alcohol once he hit the appropriate age, trying a glass of wine once or twice. He’s never really gotten into it, though, and wasn’t planning to either.

“WATER, PLEASE?” He asked. Grillby looked up a bit surprised for a moment, before nodding with a smile.

“Of course,” he said, filling a glass with mineral water, before handing it to Papyrus. It was lukewarm already from Grillby’s presence, and though he _could_ ask for ice cubes, Papyrus didn’t really mind too much anyways.

“I’M HERE FOR A REASON,” Papyrus finally announced, taking a small sip from his water.

“...I’ve figured,” the elemental sighed, filling himself a glass with some sort of liquor. “Do you mind if I…?”  
“I’M YOUR GUEST, GRILLBY, DON’T LET ME STOP YOU!” Papyrus said and Grillby nodded understanding. He appreciated the elemental asking, though. “WELL… THIS WON’T BE A PRETTY THING TO TALK ABOUT.”

“...I know.”  
“I’M NOT HAPPY WITH YOU, GRILLBY.” Papyrus decided to say boldly. “I WANT TO BE. I WANT TO BE HAPPY TO SEE YOU AGAIN! YOU MADE SANS VERY HAPPY. BUT THEN… YOU MADE HIM VERY SAD.”

Grillby didn’t respond. He was looking into his drink, taking a gulp as he listened to Papyrus.

“WHY DID YOU LEAVE, GRILLBY? WHY DIDN’T YOU COME BACK?”

“...I had to leave,” he replied softly. “I can’t tell you why, but… I _had_ to leave. I really had no other choice. It hurt me as much as it hurt Sans.”

“BY ALL DUE RESPECT, I DO NOT THINK THAT IS TRUE,” the skeleton argued as soon as the words fell, causing the elemental to flinch a little. He didn’t look up. “SANS DIDN’T KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON OR IF YOU WOULD COME BACK. HE DIDN’T KNOW IF YOU LEFT BECAUSE OF HIM, OR SOME OTHER REASON. WHEN DAD DIED WE… WE HAD ALMOST NO ONE. YOU COULD’VE BEEN THERE. YOU COULD’VE HELPED US, AT LEAST SUPPORTED SANS WHEN HE HAD JUST LOST EVERYTHING. BUT INSTEAD YOU WERE ONE OF THE THING’S HE’S LOST.”

“Papyrus… I never wanted to-”  
“IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT YOU WANTED,” Papyrus interrupted him, looking at the elemental apologetically for a moment. “I DO NOT THINK YOU’RE A BAD PERSON, GRILLBY! I DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOUR REASONS WERE. BUT SANS WAS DOING _VERY_ BAD WHEN YOU COULD’VE AVOIDED THAT, AND… WELL. YOU’RE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR HIM OR HIS HAPPINESS. I GET THAT.”

“No! That’s not it,” the flame disagreed. “ _Really._ I hurt Sans. I abandoned him when he needed me most. That’s my fault and I take full responsibility on that, I’m… I’m _so sorry._ ”  
This time it was Papyrus’ turn to nod. “WELL, I AM GLAD TO HEAR THAT AT LEAST.”

“...Do you think Sans and I could start anew?”  
“I CAN NOT TELL YOU THAT,” he replied apologetically. “IT’S NOT MY PLACE TO JUDGE.”

“Of course not… Right. Sorry.”  
“I DO HOPE YOU CAN, THOUGH! YOU SHOULD TALK TO SANS. APOLOGIZE.” Though Papyrus had the odd feeling that Sans wouldn’t be too happy seeing Grillby again. “BUT DO NOT EXPECT ANYTHING OUT FROM IT. DO NOT DO IT BECAUSE YOU WANT HIM BACK. DO IT BECAUSE YOU REGRET WHAT HAPPENED AND WANT HIM TO KNOW.”

“It’s only fair if I apologize to him,” Grillby agreed. “Even if he doesn’t forgive me. I know, Papyrus. Thank you.”  
“YOU’RE VERY WELCOME!” Papyrus said, his voice picking up a bit of a happier tone again. He finished his glass before standing up. “AND I THANK YOU FOR YOUR HOSPITALITY! I’LL BE LEAVING NOW, THOUGH I HOPE TO SEE YOU AGAIN SOON, GRILLBY! GOODBYE!”

“Goodbye, Papyrus,” Grillby replied with a small wave, a sad smile, watching as the tall skeleton marched out of his pub.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's at the moment pretty much up to you guys which fic will update first, next week, so i'm basing it on the response i get if u want this fic to update next week, leave a comment and/or let me know on my tumblr (link in the end&beginning notes later)


	2. That uncomfortable Feeling when childhood Friends are suddenly your Neighbors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i just came home from the most confusing theater play ever and also got a daki with an avocado on it  
> my dads buying me three burgers for dinner rn  
> im also getting a turtle dildo, but by turtle dildo i dont mean like a dildo shaped like a turtle dick but [this](https://www.amazon.de/Glassvibrations-Glasdildo-Turtle-Lotti-Leuchtend/dp/B01ENBWWK2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1515682798&sr=8-2&keywords=turtle+dildo), from the same guy who bought me the daki
> 
> im living the good life rn

Sans knew why they had moved to Snowdin as much as Papyrus did. His younger brother had been always been worried, but even more so after Sans' quit his job. Maybe it had been unfair. Papyrus had been so proud of finishing school and getting a job. And Sans simply used it as an easy way out. As an excuse to stop having to go to work himself, instead spending all his day lying in bed or on the couch, watching TV, Netflix, Youtube or sometimes just the ceiling.

It _worked_ , though. Papyrus got paid enough to pay for their needs and he wasn't upset when Sans quit his job. And Sans... well.

Life had always been a good bit more exhausting for him than most others, he felt. And work had only worsened that it felt. He got up in the morning feeling as tired as if he hadn't slept at all, spent all his day at work, then went to bed with the feeling of having accomplished nothing. Ever. In his entire life.

With the feeling of emptiness, of there not being a point, a reason to keep this up.

With a feeling of pointlessness of all of this.

He lived to work to get paid to pay taxes he had to pay in order to live.

But quitting his job hadn't exactly helped Sans feel a lot better. Just lazier. Less tired maybe, yes, but he also didn't leave his room at all. Sometimes he would drink in there, sometimes he would just sleep all day.

 _That's_ why they left. As a change. A change of faces, a change of surroundings, in the hope, Papyrus' hope, that it would help Sans feel more motivated again.

Maybe it did. Or maybe Sans just felt more obligated on trying, because Papyrus had tried, too. Whichever it was brought Sans to put on his jacket and leave the house for a small walk through their new hometown, while Papyrus was busy at work.

His brother hadn't been lying when he said the town was small. They lived practically at the end of it, pretty close to Waterfall, so the first thing Sans would see, _every_ time he'd try to go somewhere within their town would be... Would be the large, flickering sign that said "GRILLBY'S" in bright lights.

It wasn't _exactly_ the closest building to their house, there were some other houses, there was the library. But the sign was the most noticeable. The most flashing. The most eye catching.

The most painful.

It's been some days since they had moved to Snowdin. And not once had Sans entered the pub. Not once had he met the monster he was scared was running the place.

What would he do if he did? Small talk? Ask how he's been? Ask where he's been? Ask why the fuck he had left him alone for ten fucking years?

They were kids when they had last seen each other. They were teenagers, foolish and naive. Okay, so maybe they were not as naive as one might think. They’ve both gone through shit no one should have, they’ve both had to take on too much responsibility too early.

But Sans still liked to think he’s grown up since then. He’s grown more reasonable. Less fickle. He liked to think that he wouldn’t be as mad at Grillby as he had been ten years ago. That he would see reason in why he left, that he would be able to forgive.

But the truth was?

He was fucking pissed.

This was one of those things that he could never quite let go of. That he remembered sometimes out of nowhere, years later, clenching his fists and wishing he could go back in time to either _prevent_ this all or at least go up to Grillby and give him a damn piece of his mind.

So even if they met now. How in the fucking world was he supposed to act normal? Grillby’s left him alone for _years_ , during the probably _worst_ time of his life. Not even to mention that they had been _dating_ last time they’ve seen each other. How were they supposed to address _that?_ Just… not? At all?

Nothing could get Sans to willingly engage in a conversation like that. A conversation that was practically doomed to be as uncomfortable, as awkward and frustrating as possibly can be. If there was a conversation to happen between Sans and Grillby, Grillby had to come to him.

And boy.  
He never thought that’d be what would be happening so soon.

 

It’s been a bit over a week since they moved to Snowdin when the doorbell suddenly rang. Usually Sans would’ve ignored it, would’ve let Papyrus get it. But Papyrus was at work, and his younger brother had insisted to try to always answer the door for at least the first few months. He wanted to leave the best first impression to the neighbors he could, assuring a great start into making new connections.

So Sans got up with a sigh, quickly making sure he was presentable. Pants on, zipper shut, yea that’d be good enough.

He slouched over to the door, opening it slowly and- Oh.  
Of course.

Of _course_ he’d have that kinda luck.

If Grillby hadn’t been an elemental, so rare and unique, Sans almost wouldn’t have recognized him. He looked different with his white shirt, black vest, bow tie to top it off, his shades replaced by regular glasses. He looked different, yet still so _Grillby._

“Hello… Sans,” the elemental said hesitantly, seemingly nervous at the way Sans was eyeing him up and down. At the way Sans was practically _glaring_ at him.

“’sup,” the skeleton replied, his voice easy and leveled. He stopped taking in the elemental’s appearance and instead looked up at him in the face, his usually relaxed grin tense. “’s been a while.”

“...You could say that,” Grillby replied. He knew what the other was doing. “Listen… Sans. I’m here to apologize. Explain myself. May I come in?”  
_Explain_ himself? Sans quirked a bone brow at him. Now _that_ sounded interesting. He quickly stepped out of the way, a hand directing into the house.

“be my guest, grillboy,” he said, watching as Grillby stepped in nervously. Sans closed the door behind them, leading them to the kitchen where he took a seat at the table. The flame glanced at one of the chairs in a silent request and Sans gave him a nod.

“go ‘head.”

And Grillby did, taking a seat on the table. His posture was straight, arms on the table with his hands together. He looked nervous, but he didn’t look like he wanted or was going to chicken out of this situation.

“so?” Sans asked, after nothing came for a few moments. “what’s crackin’?” He _really_ wanted to hear what the other had to say. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with it. How he was going to process any information he could get. But he _really_ wanted to know why his ex boyfriend had left him out of _nowhere,_ never to be heard of again.

“...I’m sorry I left,” was the first thing the elemental said out loud. Though loud was questionable, he said it so quiet Sans had almost missed it. “I never wanted to. You have to believe me that. I never wanted to leave you.”  
“i don’t gotta believe horseshit, grillbz,” Sans said back, his own voice suddenly lacking the downgrading, bitter humor, and instead going cold. “why did you leave?”  
“I- I can’t-”  
“oh, _‘course_ you can’t. what was i expecting.” He held his arms up in an exaggerated motion, as if it’d been the most obvious outcome possible. “answers? who still needs answers these days?”  
“Sans-”  
“who still needs to know why you abandoned him for _ten fucking years_ ,” Sans went on, ignoring him. “and if i wouldn’t’ve- if i wouldn’t live here. would you have seeked me up? would we be havin’ this conversation right now?”

Grillby didn’t answer, instead just glancing away uncomfortable. Sans scoffed. “yea. didn’t think so.”

“You have all right to be upset-”  
“damn right i do.”  
“But _please_ listen to me? Give me a chance to apologize,” Grillby begged, his hands up in a fitting motion, his barely visible eyes looking pleading. Sans didn’t _need_ to give him a chance. Sans wasn’t sure if he _wanted_ to give him a chance.

But he sighed, relenting. “fine. say your stuff. what do i care.”  
“ _Thank you,_ ” Grillby breathed out, sounding as relieved as if Sans had just given him the world.

He didn’t start explaining right away. He seemed to take another moment where he just took a few deep breaths, preparing himself. But after a little bit, after Sans decided to give him his time, Grillby looked up, and he looked sad.

“It wasn’t in my control when I left. I can’t- No, I… I don’t _want_ to tell you why I had to leave, because I don’t want you getting involved something that doesn’t concern you anymore. But I _wasn’t_ in control, Sans. I was barely eighteen, I was scared, I thought I was doing what was best.” _Best_ turned out to be a pretty damn fucking shitty option, huh.

“When the barrier happened, though… and monsters were suddenly trapped. I _knew_ you were here, I- ...I was scared.” Grillby’s voice got quieter during the end of that, the whole statement surprising Sans. _He_ had been scared? _Grillby_ had been too scared to fucking get back to _Sans_ , who had to figure out how to be an _adult_ and take care of a _child_ on the scratch? Wow. Fucking wow.

“I thought you hated me. I didn’t think you would want me in your life. And when I heard about your situation… I just were even more sure about how much you’d have to hate me.”

“it doesn’t _matter_ , y’know,” Sans hissed out. “if i hated you or not. i was _lost_ and _alone._ y’ could’ve supported me. even if you hated me. you _didn’t_.”  
“...I know,” the elemental admitted. “I… messed up.”  
“big fuckin’ time, pal.”  
“I don’t expect you to forgive me.”

Well great. Because he wasn’t going to.

“I just thought… maybe… we could start anew?” The elemental then offered, though, despite Sans having thought he was done.

“start _what_ anew,” Sans asked warily.

“Not _us,_ just… something.” Grillby sighed, running a hand through his flame, the way Sans remembered him doing way back, and the skeleton suddenly felt so very nostalgic. “...Just visit the bar some time for a drink or some fries maybe. We don’t even have to talk, we don’t have to be friends. It just… It would be nice not having a constant avoidance thing going on. We’re neighbors now.”  
And how great was that? Sans really couldn’t help himself but to feel like this was just. His. Luck. He knew it was a complete coincidence, he _knew_ he shouldn’t keep pushing it, keep victimizing himself about this, but man. Really? Out of all towns he had to land in the one where his _ex-boyfriend_ owned the _only_ pub?

Grillby was right, though. They _were_ neighbors now, as much as Sans hated it. And trying to be complete avoidant towards him would be, especially in a town as small as Snowdin, near to impossible.

Sans sighed. He didn’t _want_ to agree with this. Didn’t want to give Grillby that kind of satisfaction. He was being petty, but part of Sans wanted Grillby to feel the at least two years Sans and Papyrus have had to beg for a place to live, the years Sans has lost everything in his life to replace them with trying to find a job, trying to find dinner, trying to find a roof for the night.

But he sighed. And he gave Grillby a small nod.

“acquaintances,” he said. Grillby looked up surprised. “we’re acquaintances. nothing more, nothing less. i won’t be avoidin’ you, but… don’t expect me to hit you up on the fries offer any time soon.” He _still_ needed time.

But Grillby seemed more than satisfied with that answer. “ _Thank you,_ ” he breathed out, relief so heavy in his voice. “Thank you, Sans. That’s more than I could’ve hoped for.”  
“yea, yea,” Sans huffed out, trying to dismiss it as quickly as possible. “think ‘s gettin’ late, though. don’t’cha have a bar to tend to?”  
Grillby looked as if he was about to disagree, before nodding slowly. “Yes. Of course,” he said, rising from his chair. “I’ll be going then. Thank you for your hospitality. For listening.”

Sans didn’t really know what else to say, so he just nodded as he watched Grillby leave the house, bidding him goodbye. It wasn’t that easily over, though, it wasn’t that easily done.

He wasn’t a kid anymore, he shouldn’t be lying in bed awake, thinking about things that happened years ago. Yet that was exactly what he was doing, rolling in bed left to right, his throat feeling like in a knot.

He would’ve done fine. He would’ve done _just fine_ had Grillby just kept staying out of his life. But instead he had to be his _neighbor_ now, instead he had to show up and _talk_ and try to settle things again. It just dug up memories Sans didn’t want to remember. It just dug up nostalgia.

Sans was _done_ missing Grillby in his life. He was done wishing he could feel his warmth again. He was done trying to remember the taste of him, the smell of him. He was fucking _done._

Except now he wasn’t. Seeing Grillby again after such a long time was like getting tossed back in time and he was fucking sixteen again – or was it seventeen? Pretending to feel normal, unbothered as he did everything to keep the elemental in his life, to not lose his love, when he was still trying to recover from – no, _survive_ – his trauma.

He was being tossed back into the fights, tossed back into the anger and feeling of hurt. Tossed back into the frustration, the helplessness.

Why had he been longing for Grillby so badly, when all memories Sans had of their last months were so painful? He was missing what they had before that, but things had _changed_ since then. _Sans_ had changed.

And now ten years passed, they were almost thirty. _Grillby_ had changed. Their _lives_ had changed. They weren’t kids anymore, they weren’t just some rebels throwing eggs at a car and drinking at shady bars.

They were adults now. Adults drinking at regular bars. And a drink sounded just like what Sans needed right now.

 

In his defense, Grillby wasn’t so untouched by this either. He never really stopped thinking about what he’s done. Yes, life happened, life went on, life was distracting. Sometimes days, weeks, months passed where Grillby didn’t think of Sans. But it would always come back eventually. There would always be nights where he stayed awake wondering if he’ll ever get a second chance. There would always be nights where he stayed awake wishing he hadn’t left, wishing he would’ve come back.

He never thought he’d get a chance to meet Sans again. To talk to him, apologize to him. He knew, of course, that Sans and Papyrus were one of the few thousands of monsters that made it underground. But he just didn’t think either of them would want to see him again, let alone _move in as his neighbor_ _s_.

A small, wishful part of Grillby wished that they could be… _something_ again. Maybe not partners right away, but… at least something like friends. Close friends.

He _loved_ Sans, and leaving him to go to the underground didn’t change that. Fearing that Sans would hate him didn’t change that. Being apart from him for _years_ didn’t change that.

But he wasn’t the only one involved in this situation. In this hypothetical relationship. And he’s _hurt_ Sans, possibly more than anyone ever had. He’s broken his trust. If Sans never wanted to have anything to do with Grillby again, the flame wouldn’t hold it against him.

He just… _wished._

A noise downstairs pulled Grillby out of his thoughts. That was weird, the door to the bar should be locked. Had he left the backdoor open? Did something fall off the shelves?  
Oh, he really hoped no bottles broke, spilled alcohol was not always just painfully expensive, it also was a pain to clean up for a fire elemental.

He slowly put on some pants before going downstairs, not bothering to turn any lights on as his own flames were sufficient enough as a light source. He was _certain_ he had locked the door, yet when he did arrive downstairs, the first thing Grillby got to see was Sans sitting at his bar on one of the stools, glass already in his small hands, though it was still empty.

“’sup barkeep,” was all Sans said, with a casual grin and a small wink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yknow when u try really hard to sound professional when writing someone in a workplace  
> and then they write you back with like three grammar errors, an emoji and in comic sans???


	3. Traditional Shit-Talking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayyy are u ready for two exes to get drunk and make mistakes, bc i sure am

“...What are you doing here?” Grillby asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes a little.

“way to greet your customers,” Sans quipped. “already makes me feel welcome.”

“... _Sans._ ”

“heh, alright. tough crowd.” Sans shrugged, but watched Grillby as he approached him at the other side of the bar, still waiting for an answer. “just needed a drink is all.”

Grillby quirked a brow a bit skeptically, but eventually didn’t complain. He had asked for Sans to come to him and he did, he wasn’t going to be the one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“What will it be?” He asked instead. Sans made a small, dismissive motion with his hand.

“whatever the chef recommends.”  
Grillby nodded, getting them both a shot glass and pouring them both a tequila shot. It was really too late to mix him something right now, even _if_ that was Sans sitting across from him. It was Sans sitting across from him at two in the morning.

“thanks, buddy,” Sans said, simple and easy, chugging down the shot without any hesitation. Grillby followed easily, watching the skeleton curiously. It’s been so long since he last seen Sans close up, it was… weird to compare him to the skeleton he knew ten years ago.

Grillby hadn’t thought a lot about how skeletons could age, could look older, but he did. The rings under his eyes were a bit deeper, his grin looked lazy, tired and fake, as if he couldn’t without one.

“take a picture, it’ll last longer.”

Grillby’s face felt hotter, having gotten caught staring. Sans was fixing him with a stare just as focused, though his eyes looked softer, lost in thought.

“...Why are you _really_ here?”  
“heh,” Sans laughed without hesitation, glancing away now. His hand was still around the empty shot glass, finger circling around it. Grillby decided to pour him another shot, as well as himself, and Sans drank it without comment.

“feels nostalgic, doesn’t it?” He hummed, sounding almost as if he was talking to himself more than to Grillby. Maybe he was.

“You know, I’ve missed you, Sans,” Grillby said quietly. “I never stopped hoping for a second chance...”  
Sans glanced at him from the side, indicating that he’s heard him very well. But he didn’t react, didn’t say anything. Just tapped his finger gently against the shot glass, until Grillby poured him another one. He didn’t drink it right away.

It was quiet in the bar, dark, the only light source being Grillby’s flames and the soft lights in Sans’ eyes. Grillby drank his own shot.

“...You’ve done well,” he said quietly. “Raising Papyrus. He’s a good young man.”

“i know,” Sans said, his voice a bit lighter, his smile a bit brighter. “paps’ a good one. ‘dunno how far i would’ve gotten without ‘im.”

“Maybe,” Grillby mused. “But you’ve helped him grow, too.”  
Sans hesitated. He finally took his shot, too.

“nah. pr’bably just ‘eld ‘im back,” he uttered out.

Grillby frowned, though he wasn’t too surprised by that kind of reply.

“Do you think Papyrus would have been happier alone?” Grillby asked. It wasn’t an accusation, it wasn’t aggressive or passive aggressive. It was just that. A question.

Sans didn’t answer. He glanced away. Then down at his shot glass. He pushed it a bit to Grillby.

“...I think you’ve had enough,” the elemental said quietly. Sans didn’t budge, though, quirking a brow at him, and eventually Grillby sighed, pouring him another shot.

He had thought over the years Sans might've grown out of that habit, but... he figured old habits die hard. Or maybe this was just a special occasion. Maybe Sans had just as many troubles letting go of seeing each other again as Grillby had.

"y'know," Sans said, there was a small laugh in his voice, but it didn't sound entirely genuine. "'s almost like ol' times, 'sn't it?"

Grillby cocked his head curiously. "...What is?" He asked, pouring himself a shot again to match Sans.

"drinkin' t'gether. inna bar." He circled his hand a bit, as if Grillby could figure out the rest himself. "'s feels like back when."

It did a bit, but seeing Sans here again, hearing him again, had made Grillby feel like 'back when' in the first place.

"...Do you want it to be... like back then?" The elemental asked, hesitantly, hopeful.

He didn't expect the way Sans' head snapped to him, the glare on his face.

He turned away again, slower, but the glare didn't soften. "why did'ya leave?" Sans asked coldly.

Grillby decided not to answer. He had told Sans he wasn't going to tell him. Instead the elemental put on two rubber gloves and began cleaning their glasses. They've had enough for now. Sans didn't complain.

"i thought 't was cause 'a me," the skeleton slurred quietly. "when i was a kid. 'n y' wen' missin'. i thought ya ran 'way from me, cause i was broken. selfish."

Grillby almost flinched at the accusation. No. That's _never_ been the reason. He hadn't wanted to leave, he hadn't wanted to leave Sans in that situation, making him believe those kind of things.

He should've explained, should've left some kind of note, called him, _anything_. But Grillby had been scared. Scared, confused and alone and he didn't want to drag anyone in this, who didn't need to be in it.

"...That's not why I left," the elemental said quietly. Sans laugh was soft and bitter.

"but y' won' tell me why?" He asked. Grillby nodded. "wha'? y' jus' playin'? myst- myst'rious n' dark? 's not gonna work for me an'more, grillbz."

"...I'm not playing."

Sans sighed. "yea. didn' think so," he admitted. But it was hard accepting no answer. It was hard accepting to keep living in the dark. When you already _met_ him again, when he's _here, right here,_ but he just _refuses_ to answer.

A part of Sans wanted to be angry. A part of Sans was. The part he's shown earlier, the part that wasn't him anymore. The part that was what was left over from ten years ago, when he's been angry and afraid. The part that wanted to come back so badly every time Sans looked at Grillby.

"'s late," Sans slurred. "i should-"

" _Don't go yet,_ " Grillby interrupted him. His voice was rushed and desperate, and he's said it before he could stop himself. "I mean... it's... late and you're drunk. There's supposed to be a snow storm tonight…"

He didn’t know what he was saying anymore. Sans was _drunk_ and Grillby wasn’t exactly the most sober monster either and they _both_ knew they had history. They _both_ weren’t ready to tackle that history. They weren't even _friends_ yet.

But if he made Sans stay _now_ , what would it end in? Would they go upstairs and drink some more, talk some more? Would he stay over the night sleeping on Grillby's couch? Would Sans decide to push the topic some more and ask where Grillby had been all these years again? What if he told him? What if he told Sans?

Or what if Sans wouldn't ask, and instead Grillby would get too comfortably in the familiarity of all this? Would get too confident and push the topic about their past instead?

He wanted to.

Grillby was being childish, foolish, but yes. He wanted to push it. He wanted to ask Sans if he still felt that way about him.

Or maybe even not go that far, maybe just ask about his romantic life. If he's been with someone, if he's slept with people during his absence.

But it wasn't his place to pry. Grillby had no right to pry, they weren't even _friends_ yet. And the part in Grillby that wanted to pry also wanted Sans to say he's been waiting for him, he's been wanting to get back together, he still cared about Grillby as much as Grillby does about him.

But he didn't need to ask to know that this wouldn't be the answer he would get.

He could tell by the hurt in Sans' eyes. By the betrayal in his eyes. And Grillby deserved this a lot more than he deserved ever getting back with him.

No matter how much he wanted to.

"No, I'm sorry..." He sighed eventually. "You're right, you should just... go."

Sans hesitated, though. Kept watching Grillby in silence as the elemental resigned, putting the now cleaned glasses back into the shelf, putting the bottle of tequila back.

"y've got a point, though," Sans muttered eventually, causing Grillby to turn around surprised. "'s late. 'm drunk. pro'lly shouldn' 'port like that."

He pushed himself off the bar chair, hands in his pockets as he unsteadily headed to the exit. He stopped halfway on his way there, in the middle of the bar, glancing to Grillby over his shoulder.

"you comin' or what?"

"...What?" The elemental asked, utterly confused.

"y're walkin' me 'ome," Sans explained. "sorry. thought t'was part a the offer."

Was it? Grillby blinked, trying to progress why Sans suddenly suggested this, why he suddenly agreed to this.

But apparently he hesitated a moment too long. "y'know wha', nev'rmind, 'll be fine-"

"No!" Grillby quickly said. "No, I'll walk you, don't worry. Just let me get my coat."

He waited for Sans' curt nod, before rushing upstairs to put on something warmer, more snow resistant. Sans was sitting at one of the booths by the time Grillby came back down, eyes on his phone. He quickly pocketed it once he heard the elemental arrive, getting up and nodding towards the door.

"we goin'?"

"Yes," Grillby said affirmatively.

They didn't talk along the way. And while Grillby had hoped it would be, it wasn't exactly a comfortable silence either. It was a tense one, constantly begging to be broken, but too thick to do so easily.

It wasn't _bad_ though. He was glad he had walked Sans home, because he caught the skeleton stumbling a couple of times, having trouble to catch or keep his balance. Grillby ended up gently keeping a hand on his shoulder to keep him steady, and Sans didn't complain.

It wasn't something he would consider getting close with something. He was just walking a drunk neighbor home during the beginnings of a snowstorm. But it also didn't feel like there was that pressing tension between them anymore. That knowledge that Grillby fucked up, that Sans knew. That knowledge that Sans wasn't okay and Grillby knew. That knowledge that they could _have_ each other again, could _help_ each other again, but not knowing if they should. If the other wanted to. If this was a good idea or something better left alone.

Right now he was just a neighbor walking his drunk neighbor home. And he knew tomorrow he might not be anymore. He knew tomorrow Sans or Papyrus might get angry with him for getting him so drunk last night.

But that was for tomorrow, and today was for today.

Grillby removed his hand from Sans once they reached the old but comfortable looking house that the brothers had moved in not long ago. Sans was searching for his keys, not looking at Grillby or saying anything. Only when he had unlocked the door and opened it a tiny bit did he finally talk again.

"thanks," he muttered. "for t'night."

"...It's absolutely nothing, Sans," the elemental assured him quickly. "You're welcome."

Sans nodded, slowly, as if trying to accept the answer.

"see ya 'round," he said, before stepping inside and closing the door in front of Grillby again.

 

“YOU WERE GONE LAST NIGHT,” Papyrus commented the next morning, the two skeletons having breakfast together. Sans was nursing his hangover headache with a hot coffee and some pain killers.

“yea,” he croaked out. “sorry i didn’t tell ya, paps. thought y’ already were asleep.”  
“OH IT’S JUST FINE, DO NOT WORRY!!!” The younger skeleton quickly assured. “WE’RE ADULTS, YOU DON’T HAVE TO TELL ME EVERY TIME YOU LEAVE THE HOUSE!”

“cool.”  
“I DO WONDER, THOUGH,” Papyrus mused out loud. “WHERE WOULD YOU HAVE GONE SO LATE?”

Sans quirked a brow at him, sensing some odd behavior here. "i went to grillb-"

"I KNEW IT!" Papyrus interrupted him quickly, pointing with his fork at Sans as if he'd been busted. "YOU _DID_ GO TO SEE HIM! FOR HOW LONG???"

"uh. just last night," Sans told him a bit confused. "he showed up earlier to apologized. i got upset. then it was two in the morning an' i needed a drink."

"...OH," his brother said, sounding surprised, maybe a bit let down. "SO YOU JUST WENT THERE TO DRINK? NOTHING ELSE?"

Yea, Sans had an idea where this was heading.

"paps, i don' wanna get back with him," he made clear once and for all. "not even sure i wanna be friends with him again. we talked again an' it was... messed up. couldn't get 'im outta my head, we have too much history, bad and good."

"I AM AWARE."

"i really just... needed to get that out. needed a drink." He looked up at his brother a bit pleading, as if asking for acceptance for Sans to _not_ get back with his teenage boyfriend. He knew Papyrus has been wanting Sans to get romantically involved again. To move on, find someone new, though he wouldn't be surprised if Papyrus would want him to get back with Grillby just as much.

But to his surprise, the younger skeleton just nodded understanding. A bit thoughtful.

"GOOD. I WAS WORRIED YOU WERE RUSHING THINGS," he mused out loud. Sans blinked surprised.

"...what?"

"YOU WERE ACTING ODD, AVOIDING THE GRILLBY-TOPIC LIKE A PLAGUE," Papyrus went on explaining. "I THOUGHT MAYBE YOU TWO WERE HAVING A THING AGAIN. WHICH, OF COURSE, I WOULD SUPPORT IF THAT WERE THE CASE, BROTHER. I ONLY WANT YOU TO BE HAPPY." Sans nodded, not doubting a second that that were false. "BUT I DO NOT BELIEVE GETTING INVOLVED WITH HIM AGAIN IS SUCH A GOOD IDEA RIGHT NOW."

"yea," Sans agreed, shocked at having Papyrus explain that to him. "yea, i know. not sure i wan' him in my life again and if... really only as acquaintance." He couldn't afford getting hurt like last time again. He couldn't afford relying on him again, only to then lose him when he needed him most.

Grillby had been right about one thing, though. Papyrus had really grown up to a fine man.

"y'know, 'm proud a ya, pap," Sans said, a bit out of nowhere. But he smiled warmly down at his stomach-turning breakfast, feeling a lot better when he heard his brother cackle confidently.

"OF COURSE YOU ARE!!!" He confirmed. "AFTER ALL, I AM A VERY FINE EXAMPLE OF A MONSTER!"

"y' sure are."

"DO NOT DISTRACT FROM THE TOPIC AT HAND, THOUGH!" Papyrus quickly went back, his voice only sounding a bit chiding. Sans hummed surprised.

"there's more?"

"INDEED THERE IS! YOU HAVE REUNITED WITH YOUR PROBLEMATIC EX IN A CIVIL MANNER, NOW IT IS TIME FOR THE TRADITIONAL EXCHANGE OF... THINGS THAT MADE YOU ANGRY, BUT YOU COULDN'T TELL HIM TO HIS FACE."

Sans snorted surprised. Oh. Alright. Guess they were doing this.

"I WENT TO SEE HIM TOO, YOU KNOW." Papyrus continued. Sans cocked his head curiously.

"you did?"

"YES!!! I NEEDED TO INFORM HIM WE ARE NEIGHBORS NOW AND THAT HE SHALL NOT APPROACH YOU IN INAPPROPRIATE MANNER."

"aww, my bro threatened my ex for me," Sans cooed playfully.

"I DID NOT THREATEN HIM!!!" Papyrus complained, though, glaring down at Sans. "I WAS SIMPLY POLITELY INFORMING HIM!"

"bet 'e pissed his pants," Sans went on. "saw ya comin' in and was like, 'oh crap it's papyrus. oh no, he's gonna beat the hell outta me, not again.'"

"AGAIN???"

"i don' know what violent stuff you do when i'm not looking." Sans shrugged. "geez, bro. you need to control your anger."

"HA HA, VERY FUNNY, BROTHER," Papyrus replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes. But his mouth was still twitching in a smile.

"so. y'wanna start with the traditional shit-talkin'?"

“DON’T MIND IF I DO!!!” Papyrus agreed quickly, before he went on to tell Sans about his own visit at Grillby’s bar, past closing time as well. Hah. Guess they weren’t too different at all.

“AND HE ACTUALLY TRIED TO TELL ME HE HAD IT AS BAD AS YOU- _WE_ DID. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!!!” Papyrus ranted out loud. “I DO NOT DOUBT HE DIDN’T HAVE A HARD TIME EITHER. A LOT HAPPENED THE LAST FEW YEARS. BUT REALLY!!! WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THE TIME HE JUST _LEFT_. WHEN OUR DAD DIED! AND THERE WAS A WAR! AND WE WERE ALSO HOMELESS AND STARVING!!!”

“yea, betcha ‘e had a safe roof on ‘is head an’ warm food.” It’s been a long time since they spent their time at the campsite without a home, but something like that never really left you. “dunno jus’ _how_ much he could’a’ve done for us even _if_ he’d been here, but, y’know...”

“HE COULD HAVE BEEN HERE!!!” Papyrus agreed loudly. “AND JUST SUPPORT US. THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE THAN ENOUGH!!! WE WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN AS SCARED!”

“would ya say ‘e’s an asshole?” Sans tried. More out of curiosity than anything else really. He’s never seen his brother quite this worked up about anyone or anything aside from his puns maybe before.

Papyrus, as expected, hesitated. “I… WOULD NOT,” he finally said. Sans quirked a surprised brow at him, though the opposite answer would’ve probably surprised him even more. “HE DID NOT SEEM LIKE HE MEANT ANY BAD WHEN I TALKED TO HIM. I WANT TO BELIEVE HE’S GOOD,” Papyrus tried. “THOUGH IT IS HARD TO WHEN SO MUCH COULD’VE BEEN BETTER HAD HE JUST BEEN THERE.”

“’s like when dad wasn’t there.”

“IT’S NOT LIKE WHEN DAD WASN’T THERE,” Papyrus argued. “DAD WAS AT WORK. HE WOULD COME BACK _EVENTUALLY_ AND REMIND US THAT WE _HAD_ SOMEONE. PLUS HE PROVIDED US WITH A HOUSE AND FOOD AND MONEY.”

“yea, y’re right,” the older skeleton mused out loud. “y’ think i should forgive grillby…?” This one was a question Sans asked not out of pure curiosity. Yes, it was interesting to know what his brother thought, but… He really didn’t know how to feel about that one.

“I CAN’T TELL YOU THAT, BROTHER,” his brother replied unhelpfully. “I AM VERY SORRY. I’M SURE IT IS A HARD DECISION.”

“hah. y’ don’ even know.”  
“BUT… IT’S OKAY FOR YOU TO TAKE YOUR TIME WITH THAT DECISION. IT DOESN’T NEED TO FALL NOW. OR EVER!!!” Papyrus assured him quickly. “WHETHER YOU FORGIVE HIM OR NOT, IT’S SOMETHING ENTIRELY FOR YOU. YOU DON’T OWE HIM FORGIVENESS, WHETHER HE ‘DESERVES’ IT OR NOT. IT IS YOUR DECISION AND WHICHEVER YOU CHOOSE… I’LL SUPPORT IT!”

Sans sighed, but he smiled softly up at him. “...thanks pap. y’re the greatest.”  
Papyrus cackled proudly. “OF COURSE I AM!!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yea im like 10 minutes early but listen, im busy doing things and the other alternative wouldve been being late  
> on another note my classmate JUST wrote me "hab dich Lidl❤" out of nowhere, which is german for "i love you" (in a platonic way) except of the love being replaced with the fucking store Lidl and im so confused and also crying of laughter


	4. Doggy Style

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woops sorry im late, i was busy playing splatoon 2 which i got fo my birthday which is TODAY

 

There were many big mysteries in Sans’ life. What was that machine he found in Gaster’s lab? Where _was_ Gaster? What happened to the surface after they got locked up underground? Why did Grillby leave?  
But the probably most biggest riddle Sans ever had to face was, how in the world did Papyrus manage to life at this godawful early hour.

Sans had _told_ Papyrus he was going on morning patrol with him, but that didn’t mean that he had an easy time doing it. Papyrus had to practically drag Sans out of the bed for breakfast at five fucking in the morning, before practically dragging Sans into his shoes and jacket and practically dragging Sans out of the house.

But in his defense, it was five in the fucking morning.

They just passed the town’s heart, having waved and greeted the few monsters that were actually already awake at this ungodly hour, though it weren’t a lot. Sans was slouching next to his enthusiastic brother, the image almost comically contrary.

“ _why,_ ” Sans groaned lamenting, his brother cackling in reply.

“BECAUSE THE EARLY BIRD CATCHES THE WORM, AND IN OUT CASE THE ‘WORM’ IS MONEY,” he explained happily, slinging his arm into Sans’ and swinging it a little.

“but ‘s so early...”

“TIME IS WHAT WE MAKE OF IT, HAD YOU GONE TO BED EARLIER LAST NIGHT, IT WOULD BE JUST THE RIGHT TIME NOW TO BE AWAKE!”

“i call bullshit on that,” Sans argued, shaking his head a little. “there’s never a right time to be awake.”

Papyrus gasped, as if he’d just been personally offended. No, attacked even. Wounded.

“YOU HURT ME, SANS,” he replied in fake offense, a hand exaggeratedly on his chest. “AND HERE I THOUGHT YOU WOULD LOVE WAKING UP AFTER TWO HOURS OF SLEEP.”

“two hours of sweet, sweet sleep.” Sans hummed like he was remembering an old, pleasant memory. “i miss her. my wife.”  
“SLEEP?”

“yea,” Sans replied, still humming. “we’re married. we have a son called nap.”

That got a surprised laugh out of Papyrus, making Sans smile brighter.

“YOU SPENT TOO MUCH TIME WITH YOUR SON, THEN!” Papyrus decided, still laughing.

This time it was Sans’ turn to gasp offended. “he’s my _son!_ ”

“YOU’RE SPOILING HIM!!!” Papyrus still argued with a smile. He only stopped their playful bantering when he suddenly dashed off waving to someone happily. Sans was left having to hurry after him.

Ugh, speed walking at five in the morning.

“GOOD MORNING DOGGO!!!” He called over to a monster Sans just now spotted. As the name implied, a dog monster, sitting at his sentry post smoking a dog treat. He looked up surprised when Papyrus called his name, craning his head a bit left to right, as if having problems spotting them.

“Paps, that you?” The monster asked, and Papyrus nodded enthusiastically, until Doggo’s eyes finally focused on him, his snout twitching into a small smile. “Ah! There you are!”

Huh. He seemed to actually have some sort of visual impairment, how _he_ managed to became a sentry was beyond Sans.

“YES!!! I’VE ALSO BROUGHT MY BROTHER, HE’S NEXT TO ME!”

This time Doggo’s head craned a bit into Sans’ direction, the smaller skeleton giving him a relaxed wave until the dog’s view seemed to focus.

“name’s Sans,” he said, holding a hand out for a shake.

The dog accepted the shake, his paw having a surprisingly firm grip, claws clinking against Sans’ bones.

“Doggo,” he replied firmly, and Sans gave a nod as he pulled his hand back.

“y’know my bro?”  
“We’re work colleagues,” he replied, seemingly keeping his answers short. Sans realized his ears were still twitching from one way to the other, trying to pick up different sounds. Maybe he had trouble keeping up with focusing on several people as well as his job.  
“WE ALSO WENT TO SCHOOL TOGETHER! HE WAS A FEW YEARS UNDERNEATH YOU, SANS!!!” Papyrus told them excitedly. Sans quirked a brow surprised.

“yea?” He asked. “sorry, haven’t been to school a lot. don’t seem to remember ya.”

“It’s fine,” Doggo said, but his attention didn’t seem to be quite there. This time Papyrus seemed to pick up on it, too, and he also picked up Sans.  
“WELL, I DO NOT WANT TO BOTHER YOU MUCH LONGER, DOGGO!” He said as he carried Sans like a football ball. “I STILL HAVE WORK TO ATTEND TO. IT WAS NICE SEEING YOU, THOUGH!!!”

They all bid their short goodbyes, before Papyrus carried Sans the rest of the way to his own sentry station. Well. He didn’t really have a station yet, but he brought himself a folding chair and it would do just as fine.

“so, doggo, huh?”  
“HE IS USUALLY VERY NICE!” Papyrus told him happily as he put Sans back on the ground. “HE CAN ONLY SEE MOVING THINGS, THOUGH, I THINK WE OVERWHELMED HIM.”

See only moving things? That seemed weird, but it would match up with the monsters behavior.

"I'M SURE HE'LL BE MORE APPROACHABLE OFF WORK."

"yea?" Sans replied. "'ll keep it in mind. maybe i'll catch 'im in town sometime." He wasn't really too keen on 'catching him in town sometime.' Not because he didn't like him or didn't want to see him, but just because Sans wasn't too particularly interested in making friends.

 

He still _did_ catch him in town sometime, though. A few days later, in fact, when Sans was at the shop buying some groceries. Their grocery options had greatly shrunk since they didn't have a lot of shops to choose from anymore, but at least the vendor lady was friendly and it was rarer to meet people here.

This time, though, Sans did meet someone. And it was Doggo, his unfocused eyes narrowing a bit, before finally focusing on Sans.

"Ey! You're the skeleton's brother!"

"yep," Sans replied. Quickly handing the vendor her gold and gathering up his things. "that's me. should probably get goin'."

"Not so fast," Doggo replied, stopping him with a paw to Sans' shoulder. The skeleton froze in place. He hadn't been in a fight in some years, but that didn't mean he couldn't or wouldn't defend himself.

But fighting had never been on the dog's mind in the first place.

"Don't think I've seen you at the bar before, skeleton."

"'s sans," Sans noted, but the dog simply went on.

"It's friday, drinks are cheaper tonight," Doggo noted. "The whole town'll be there."

" _Almost_ the whole town," the rabbit vendor corrected with a lopsided smirk at Doggo. "Some people are busy with family, kids."

"Yea, yea," the dog laughed, finally letting go of Sans. "Anyway, you should come, too, skeleton! See ya 'round."

Sans left with a small nod, finally getting home. Doggo's suggestion didn't just leave him, though, and Papyrus seemed to pick up on it too while he was busy preparing dinner.

"WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND, BROTHER?" He asked curiously. Sans looked up surprised, before shrugging.

"doggo invited me to grillby's," he told him simply.

"OH! LIKE A DATE?" Papyrus asked surprised. "I DID NOT KNOW I ACCIDENTALLY SET YOU TWO UP WHEN INTRODUCING YOU. WHAT AN INTERESTING OUTCOME!"

Sans snorted surprised, laughing at his brother's behavior. "no, paps, not a date. just said the whole town'll be there, should come too. somethin' 'bout drinks bein' cheaper."

"OH." Papyrus sounded a bit disappointed, but like he didn't want to let Sans know. "WILL YOU BE GOING?"

Sans shrugged. "not sure." He's been avoiding Grillby's since their long night. He still wasn't sure how to feel about the whole situation, but what he was sure was how unpredictable Sans got whenever he saw Grillby. Like his old self from ten years ago was struggling against him now. He didn't want to dig up the old memories more than he absolutely had to, and he was scared of accidentally doing something he'd regret.

"YOU KNOW, IT MIGHT BE GOOD FOR YOU," Papyrus noted, though he still didn't sound as enthusiastic as usually. Sans raised a brow surprised.

"you? tellin' me t' go drinkin'?" He asked, his voice comically unbelieving. He picked up a noodle from the pot Papyrus was cooking them in. "what did ya do to my brother, ya impasta?"

Papyrus huffed annoyed, but Sans didn't miss the smile twitching in his face. "I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT DRINKING!" He quickly defended himself. "WHAT YOU DO THERE IS FULLY YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. THOUGH YES, I DO BELIEVE GOING THERE COULD HELP YOU SOCIALIZE AND MAKE CONNECTIONS. YOU'VE BEEN TOO SHUT IN!!!"

Yea, that did make sense. Doggo _did_ make the offer so Sans could meet almost everyone in town, not so he could dig up old relationship drama with Grillby. He figured there was more to the bar than just what it had in it's name.

"...i think i might go," he finally decided. "who knows, might be fun." Or not. But Papyrus was trying to help him, and he didn't want to spit those efforts into his face.

 

He left a few hours after dinner, hands stuffed into his jacket as he walked towards the brightly lit bar. It looked warm compared to the now dark, snowy atmosphere around. Bright, warm orange and yellow colors, laughter and happy voiced coming traveling through the walls, the sound of an old jukebox playing.

He's never been to Grillby's before closing time. He's never realized just how many monsters seemed to go to this place. But when he opened the door, a wave of warmth coming over him, the light not exactly extremely _bright,_ but still a little blinding if you just came out of the dark outside. And so many voices, several conversations going on at once, laughter and music, so much that Sans suddenly understood why Doggo said the _whole town_ would be there. He knew realistically speaking it was probably even less than two thirds, maybe, but it was still so lively that it sure _felt_ like the whole town.

Sans let himself in, letting the door swing shut behind him. It was busy, so no one really looked up or reacted when Sans came in, which was just fine by him. Only when he had come closer to the bar did Doggo call out for him, the monster sitting at a big table not too far from the bar with some other dog like monsters.

Sans casually strolled up to them, ignoring the small urge he got to ignore _them_ and instead talk to Grillby. He had no more business with Grillby. Any business they had they talked out. Settled. They were done.

“’sup,” the skeleton said as he slipped onto a free chair on the table. The dogs all giving him a surprised look, sniffing him down. He let them, unperturbed.

“Glad ya made it!” Doggo hollered happily, raising a glass of beer up into the air, the other dogs joining in with howls and barks and laughter raising their own glasses, most likely more out of solidarity than anything else. Those guys really seemed to be pack-people.

“yea, wasn’t sure if i’d come myself,” Sans admitted casually. “y’ weren’t lyin’ when you said the whole town would be here.”

Doggo laughed heartily, having already expected that.

They spent a good half hour at that table talking, the dogs introducing themselves as Lesser and Greater Dog, Dogamy and Dogaressa. They were good people, Sans had to realize. A bit odd compared to most monsters, Lesser and Greater barely even talking and Dogamy and Dogaressa seemingly only being able to smell rather than see. But they were good people none the less and fun to be around.

They didn’t ask about his past, about his family, where he came from or why he was here. They just asked simple things if at all. Did he smoke? Cigarettes, Sans replied, though not as often anymore. And then Doggo went on to try to talk him into trying dog treats some time, and Dogaressa went on to tell him to stop offering everyone dog treats, they were addictive and expensive and not easy to get a paw on.

“I’m just _offering,_ ” Doggo offered, and Sans stopped their bickering with a good laugh, shaking his head.

“i think i pass,” he told them, Doggo’s ears drooping a bit disappointed, but Dogaressa nodded satisfied. The guy probably really just wanted a smoking buddy. Poor dude.

After a while Grillby passed their table and Sans… well. He wasn’t sure how he felt. Anxious? Excited? Worried? Would he give away they knew each other, would Sans have to explain their relationship?  
Well, the answer was no.

Grillby asked if they’d like to order something. The round all got their drinks, with Sans asking for a beer. And then Grillby left.

It wasn’t like there was nothing between them. Sans wished it would’ve been that easy. That he would’ve come as a stranger, taken their orders and left as a stranger.

But Sans voice was careful when he placed his order. Grillby’s look was searching when he repeated their orders again, looking at the skeleton. There was something, something that reminded them both that they were far more than strangers. That they _always_ would be far more than strangers, no matter how much they would play pretend.

But it was subtle enough for none of the dogs to notice, and really, right now that was all Sans wanted from this night.

The night got better once drinks were involved.

Doggo and Greater Dog had already been a little tipsy when Sans arrived, but the rest were quick to follow. Sans realized he had interrupted a game of poker between them, which they were now continuing with Sans as a sixth player.

It wasn’t hard to play against the dogs, Sans learned, even after they all ordered a second round of drinks and he could feel the alcohol getting to him. Lesser and Greater dog were completely obvious about their cards, seemingly not even capable of faking any kind of reaction.

Doggo, Sans realized, tried to keep up a poker face. But that usually ended up in him getting too aggressive with it and looking completely unnatural.

Dogamy and Dogaressa seemed to be the hardest to read so far, though that didn’t mean they were _hard_ to read. They kept up a good poker face, alright, but their tail wagging gave them away too easily.

Sans decided to go easy on them, they weren’t playing on any money after all, so there was nothing he needed to win for, and he didn’t want to ruin their good fun.

It wasn’t until a good bit after midnight that the dogs slowly started filing out of the pub. So did most of the monsters, Sans found to realized as he began looking around as it was only him, Doggo and Greater Dog left. And those two left, too, after another round of drinks and a last game.

And suddenly Sans was alone.

Not _alone_ alone. There was a wasted rabbit passed out in one booth, a red avian monster sitting by the bar. But the drunken laughter, the talking was suddenly gone. The jukebox felt a lot quieter than before.  
Suddenly the bar wasn’t as lively anymore. It wasn’t as warm or welcoming anymore. Suddenly it was empty and stuffy. The smell of grease, of alcohol and sweat thick in the air. It wasn’t exceptionally dirty, the tables were about as clean as they could be after a busy day. But the people that were still here, even after everyone else just left, even after the atmosphere died like this, they seemed dirty. They seemed lonely and sad or wasted and lost.

And Sans realized he was one of them. Sitting alone at a bar table, drunk, an unfinished glass of beer still in his hands. There were bowls of leftover kibble left and right from him, some cards one of the dogs must’ve forgotten. He hadn’t moved from his spot after Lesser Dog left, or after Dogamy and Dogaressa left. And eventually, when Doggo and Greater Dog left as well, leaving Sans alone, the skeleton still didn’t move.

“…It’s late,” Grillby finally said, Sans getting startled, not having realized he was standing next to him. “You might wan’t to go home...”

Sans looked up to him, quirking a brow. “y’ain’t sen’in’ _them_ away,” he slurred, thumb pointing to the remaining monsters. It wasn’t an accusation, just something he noted.

Grillby glanced to the two monsters for a moment, before back at Sans, sighing a little uncomfortable. “Reese’s always passes out, I need to call her sister to pick her up. And Red just… likes to overstay their welcome. They’re usually the last one to leave.”

Sans smirked, like he just took that as a challenge. He got up from his seat, Grillby taking a careful step back, expecting Sans to be taking his leave now. But instead the skeleton just marched up to the bar, taking a seat close to Red as if he belonged there.

“whiskey shot, please,” Sans said lazily, already getting the money to pay. Grillby sighed, but moved behind the counter.

“Didn’t you have enough?”  
“don’ see you cuttin’ red over there off,” Sans replied with a shrug, the red bird monster looking up surprised.

“Do I know you?” They asked surprised.

“not yet anyway,” Sans replied easily as Grillby handed him the shot. “’eard y’ like bein’ the last one to stay.”  
“Hah! What?” The bird cooed out surprised. “Is the new guy trying to give me competition?”  
“sure am!” Sans agreed easily, downing his shot in one go.

“Oh! Well we’ll see about that,” the bird cackled out happily. “Grillby!”  
“ _Red..._ ”  
“Give me your worst shot!”  
“I will not,” the flame insisted.

“Fine, then give me what that guy got.” The elemental sighed, but eventually obliged, pouring Red a whiskey shot.

“So, I’m Red, as you apparently already know. Care to introduce yourself?”  
“name’s sans,” the skeleton chirped easily.

The bird hummed chipper, thanking Grillby for the drink. “An’ planning to steal Grillby from me, I see.”  
“what?” Sans asked, blinking surprised.

Red laughed. “Yea, I know he’s been having the hots for me all this time! Just look at the way he watches me!” He pointed at the elemental, Grillby barely even paying attention to them, busy on the phone as he called Reese’s sister up. He only glanced over when he noticed Red pointing at him, the bird giving him a sloppy wink.

“See? Heads over heels for me!”

“actually,” Sans said, sliding off his chair suddenly. “i think ‘ve had en’gh. see ya ‘round.”  
“Aww what? Did I say something wrong?” He heard Red coo after him, but Sans already ‘ported back home before he could reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i also got mario odyssey and a REALLY CUTE CAT MUG


	5. Light up your Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk whats up with ao3 lately but its just instead of giving me todays date giving me the 5th of janurary as publision date? like, i know i can change it, but it keeps doing that and i keep forgetting to check before posting and then the fic wont show up as updated recently  
> its kinda annoying??  
> anyway have a sweet chapter

Sans didn’t sleep for the rest of that night. There was something about that night that messed him up. Something very obvious. Something that had to do with how… out of place Sans had felt so suddenly. Like he shouldn’t have been there. Not for _this._ Not for him to feel a tinge of _something_ when the monster had joked about seducing Grillby.

What the hell had that been _about?_ He knew the monster had been kidding. He knew now and he knew when it happened back at the bar.

But when they’d said it, when they mentioned Grillby that way, Sans knew he didn’t want to talk about this. _Couldn’t_ talk about this. Not in his state, not with Grillby there, not this early.

It didn’t exactly make Sans feel better once he teleported away, though. Now he was just hiding. From the situation, from the _feelings_ , from all of this. He was lying in his bed, covers pulled over his head as he was rolled up in fetal position. Like a teenager who has just gone through some drama. It was pathetic, but eventually Sans simply fell asleep this way.

 

The next morning wasn’t doing very good on Sans. Papyrus had practically dragged him out of bed for breakfast, the small skeleton now sitting at the kitchen table barely alive, his face resting on his palm.

“HOW WAS YOUR BAR DATE???” Papyrus asked, innocently and curiously, and Sans loved his brother so much, but sometimes his loud, shrill voice was simply hard to deal with. Being completely hungover was one of those times.

“volume,” he croaked out miserably, Papyrus blinking at him surprised.

“Hangover?” He said, lowering his voice a bit. Sans gave a pathetic nod and Papyrus was already looking for some pain killers for his brother. “Oh well. You should’ve drunk more carefully! Did you have fun at least?”  
Did he? Sans didn’t want to say no. Yes, he didn’t like how it ended, he didn’t like having to be reminded of his situation Grillby. But he _did_ enjoy spending the time with the dog pack, playing poker, drinking. They were fun folks, most of the monsters at the bar seemed to be.

“yea, think so,” he muttered out, trying to give Papyrus a weak smile as he accepted the painkiller with great gratitude. “hang out with the dogs. ‘ad some fun. they’re good folks.”  
Papyrus nodded, humming a little. “THAT’S SOUNDS GREAT, BROTHER!!! IT’S GOOD TO SEE YOU MAKING FRIENDS. AND IT’S GOOD TO SEE DOGGO CHANGED THIS WAY, TOO!”

“changed?” Sans asked surprised. He recalled that Papyrus knew Doggo from elementary school, but he didn’t remember what his relationship had been to Papyrus.

“OH, WELL...” Papyrus suddenly seemed a bit nervous, like he hadn’t wanted to bring this topic up. But he got himself into this and he wasn’t going to avoid it. “DOGGO HAD BEEN… LESS FRIENDLY BACK IN SCHOOL.”

Oh.

_Oh._

Doggo had been one of the bullies. Suddenly bells seemed to ring in Sans’ head, not loudly yet, not like a memory that suddenly came back. Just something faint, long ago.

“BUT HE HAS BEEN REALLY NICE SINCE WE BECAME COLLEAGUES!!!” Papyrus insisted quickly, like he feared that Sans would get angry.

Sans… didn’t. He could tell how Doggo might’ve been more of a bully before, but he’s very obviously grown up. He figured he agreed with Papyrus. It was nice to see him change this way. Sans still couldn’t _quite_ remember Doggo from back then, but he knew this Doggo enough to know he was a good guy, friendly enough to invite a near stranger to a game of poker with his whole pack.

“’e’s good,” Sans confirmed with a nod. “also met the other dogs. uh… dogamy an’ ‘ressa. greater and lesser dog?”

“OH!!! YES, I HAVE HEARD ABOUT THEM!” Papyrus agreed excitedly. “I DID NOT HAVE THE CHANCE TO MAKE ACQUAINTANCE WITH THEM YET, THOUGH. ARE THEY NICE???”

“yea, they’re good dogs,” Sans hummed out. “played poker with ‘em. they’re awful at poker.”  
Papyrus cackled amused as he put his arms akimbo. “THEN THEY SHOULD PROBABLY NOT COMPETE AGAINST A POKER CHAMPION SUCH AS ME!!!”

Sans was pretty sure he’s never seen his brother play poker before, but he couldn’t imagine him being very good at it. His brother was almost as expressive as the dogs were.

“yea, y’ would win every game,” Sans agreed anyways. “it just would be an unfair advantage. you’re too good at it.” He shrugged, like he was simply accepting the fate, while Papyrus cackled proudly.

“DO YOU THINK I SHOULD COME NEXT TIME???” Papyrus asked, a hand to his chin like he was musing over the decision. “I _COULD_ MAKE FRIENDS THERE. AND KEEP YOU FROM DRINKING TOO MUCH!”

Sans chuckled, giving him another shrug. “sure would do me good.”  
“THEN IT’S DECIDED!!! WHEN WAS YOUR NEXT DATE???”

“’s not a date, bro,” Sans reminded, but his grin was still easy and relaxed, only contorted by the pain of the hangover. “also not sure. didn’ make any plans.”  
“HMMM, THAT IS INDEED INCONVENIENT,” Papyrus mused, sounding like he was about to solve a puzzle. Sans chimed in again.

“friday’s supposed ta be packed every week,” he suggested. “we could go next?”  
“SO, FRIDAY NIGHT???” Papyrus asked, Sans giving him a nod which he quickly regretted due to the wave of nausea followed by it. “THAT SOUNDS FINE BY ME!!! OH BOY!!! I AM ALREADY EXCITED TO MEET ALL THESE NEW PEOPLE!”

Sans laughed softly, happy at his brothers enthusiasm. He wasn’t entirely sure how much Papyrus would like a place like Grillby’s, the people that hang out there, but he was gonna be the last person to stop Papyrus from doing something he’s excited about.

 

Turns out it was Papyrus free day today. Usually that meant for Sans chores. Because Papyrus was there to monitor him and tell him to stop being lazy. And it had meant that for the first while.

Sans had cleaned up after breakfast, done the dishes. Took a short nap, before he got woken up to pick up his sock, which would just miraculously appear on it’s spot again the next day, if not some hours later already.

But after a handful of them, Sans got doomed to something probably worse.

“i don’ wanna look for a job,” Sans groaned, throwing his head back as he was sitting on the couch with a laptop on his lap.

“YOU HAVE TO WORK _EVENTUALLY!_ ”

“do not,” Sans argued stubbornly.

“WELL, I’M NOT GOING TO PAY ALL OF THE RENT ALONE _FOREVER!_ ” Papyrus complained, making Sans feel a bit bad. But also still very stubborn.

“hey, i did that for _you_ several years!” He argued back, pouting like a child.

“WHILE I WAS AT SCHOOL, YES,” Papyrus confirmed. “AND I WILL GLADLY DO THIS FOR AS LONG AS YOU ARE UNABLE TO MAKE YOUR OWN MONEY. I THINK A JOB WOULD DO YOU GOOD, ANYWAYS.”

Sans huffed. He knew he was right, but that didn’t mean he wanted to accept it. He was doing alright without a job, had enough time to rest and nap. Didn’t need to drag himself out of bed every morning to go to work only to drag himself home every evening to go back to bed.

He had time, freedom, and no stress. He didn’t want to get that taken away from him again. Even _if_ it had ended before in Sans being stuck in a hole of depression, a hole he couldn’t get out of. A hole that kept him from getting out of bed, a hole that kept him from caring _at all._

Sans liked to think he was doing better since they moved to Snowdin. But… that had been thanks to Papyrus. If Papyrus had helped him then, he’d probably help now, just…

Sans groaned. It was hard for him to leap over his own shadow.

He still decided to look through some job offers online. Maybe not a _lot,_ just barely enough for Papyrus to seem satisfied whenever he decided to look over Sans’ shoulder. But at least he was doing _something._

Not that it was very useful. There weren’t a lot of job offers in the underground to begin with. Add up on it that it’d be convenient if it’d be close in case Sans might not always be able to teleport there. And the fact that he was living in the town with the least employers ever, probably.

Most job offers he found didn’t interest him in the least. Something about a snail farm somewhere in Waterfall. Someone to chuck ice into the river in Snowdin.

Most were in the Capital, barista jobs, construction workers, painters…

He didn’t even have a direction to look at. Sans had no idea what he _wanted_ to do, what he enjoyed doing. He had no profession, only bad experiences. And nothing he found sounded like they would be good experiences.

Papyrus sighed after a little while of watching Sans glare at the laptop. He closed his own, got up of the couch and held a hand towards Sans.

“DO YOU WANT TO HELP ME???”

“what?” Sans asked surprised and confused, looking up at his brother.

“WE’RE DECORATING THE HOUSE! I FOUND SOME LIGHTS IN OUR MOVING CARTONS THAT WE NEVER USED!!!” Papyrus told him. “WE SHOULD HANG THEM UP.”

Sans blinked utterly surprised. “uh… sure?” That came oddly out of nowhere. What kind of lights had Papyrus found to hang up for them?

 

Turns out he’s found Christmas lights. And ones that still worked, too!

“I KNOW IT’S NOT HOLIDAY SEASON,” Papyrus said, rubbing his gloved hands together a bit for warmth. “BUT I THOUGHT IT WOULD FIT!!! IT’S ALMOST LIKE IT IS ALWAYS CHRISTMAS HERE ANYWAY!!!”

Sans laughed. Well. He wasn’t wrong. With the snow everywhere at all times it really had a feeling of what winter and Christmas had been like back on the surface. Except of course that it wouldn’t leave once spring came.

It was… kind of nice? If you liked snow and didn’t mind the cold, Sans figured. He didn’t mind either, so it was nice enough for him.

“so… how we go about this?” Sans asked his brother curiously, watching at the outside of their house while his brother was untangling the lights.

“WELL!!! I THOUGHT WE COULD HANG THEM UP AROUND THE DOOR,” Papyrus mused, looking up from his tangled Christmas lights, eyeing the door as his canvas instead.

“oh, i get it,” Sans replied, already chuckling mischievously. “givin’ out guests a bright ‘n warm welcome?”  
“YES!!! PRECISELY,” Papyrus replied, arms akimbo as he stood proudly for a minute. Before his eyes opened wide in shock and he glared down at Sans. “NO!!! NO, THAT’S NOT AT ALL HOW IT IS!!!”

But it was already too late. They’ve lost Sans. Lost Sans to laughing like a madman in the snow, while Papyrus stomped onto it angrily.

They still put up the lights, though. Sans ended up tangling the cords of lights around the lower parts of the poles left and right of the door, while Papyrus decided to do the higher up ones. They tied the two strings together at the top, Sans doing the handywork of it while sitting on Papyrus’ shoulders.

“NOW WE JUST HAVE TO LIGHT THEM!!!” Papyrus said excitedly once he took Sans off his shoulders, placing him down in the snow. “SO EVERYONE WILL SEE OUR HOUSE!!! EVEN IN THE DARKEST OF NIGHTS!”

“’m not sure there’s a power socket outside, bro,” Sans told him regretfully Papyrus already looking at him with big, sad eyes. Sans sighed as he felt bad. “wanna put an’ emergency generator up for the lights?”

Papyrus beamed at Sans for a moment, bright eyes, excited. Before it turned into a softer, slightly sadder smile and Papyrus shook his head. “IT IS A GREAT IDEA, BUT NO. I’M NOT SURE WE CAN AFFORD THAT KIND OF EXTRA POWER BILL RIGHT NOW.”

Ouch. Okay. Sans didn’t think he’d brought that up now, right after their discussion about Sans not having a job, but still. Ouch.

“’s cool, paps,” Sans assured them quickly. “looks great like this already anyway.”

Papyrus was cackling proudly, examining their work. “IT REALLY DOES!!!” He agreed easily. "I AM GLAD YOU SAY SO, THOUGH, BECAUSE I HAVE FOUND EVEN MORE!!!" He was already running towards some boxes as he pulled out two, three more strings of Christmas lights. Sans was chuckling.

"what? where you wanna hang up _those_?" He questioned amused. They already decorated their entrance, there wouldn't be more room around the door for more lights. But Papyrus wasn't hesitating a moment to point determinedly at their balcony, before running inside, appearing on the balcony seconds later. He was already attaching the lights when he called down to Sans.

"HANG SOME UP AROUND THE ROOF!!!" Papyrus instructed excitedly. "OH! OH!!! AND THE WINDOWS!"

Sans was laughing, but he shrugged as he took on the task, casually levitating Christmas lights upwards to attach to the edges of the roof, some around the windows. By the time they finished up their house _really_ looked like they were preparing for holiday season, and got quite the few confused but amused looks from neighbors. Even some calling out that their work looked pretty, Papyrus calling back a loud, "THANK YOU!!!"

 

It wasn't until late evening that they went inside, Papyrus making dinner while Sans was in their living room on the couch, turning their TV on. Underground TV was... something. They had about three channels in total, most of them offline most of the time anyways.

There was one for news, talking about construction plans a lot, about announcements from the king, a channel Sans liked to avoid. It was just sort of... awkward seeing Asgore in the role of the king now. Seeing Asgore in the role of _his_ king.

Then there was a channel that actually showed movies and shows from the surface. People started finding and collecting some in the trash that was being flooded underground. This was the only channel working almost all the time, though what they showed often repeated and often enough turned out to be in bad quality.

One channel was for underground productions. Movies monsters shot underground, talk shows, records of events or concerts. Those obviously weren't very good quality either, because they were mostly done by amateurs. An experimental channel that ran whenever they had something to run. Papyrus had been on there once, a short recording of his graduation memory. They actually had this small video recorded on an empty VHS they bought for a lot of money on the market once.

They didn't have a working VHS player anymore, but... it couldn't hurt to stash it for until they _would_ have one.

But this time the experimental channel showed something interesting. It wasn't anything recorded, it was a... it seemed like a trailer for something, which was odd enough considering underground TV barely _ever_ showed trailers.

But there were no recordings, no life-scene pictures, only vague drawings, flashy letters that announced something or someone called 'METTATON.'

Sans hummed a little, leaning towards the direction of the kitchen where Papyrus was.

"'ey bro, wha's mettaton?" He called out curiously, his brother reacting immediately.

"OH, YOU HAVEN'T HEARD YET???" He asked, Sans making a confirming noise that he hadn't. "IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE SOME SORT OF ENTERTAINMENT ROBOT THE ROYAL SCIENTIST IS WORKING ON! THEY'RE GOING TO BE ON TV, GETTING AN OWN CHANNEL AND EVERYTHING!"

Sans huffed impressed. An entertainment robot? An entertainment robot that wasn't even _done_ yet and already planned to get it's own channel? Not bad. Maybe then TV would finally be less boring.

"COME ON NOW, DINNER IS ALMOST READY!" Papyrus called again and Sans pushed himself off the couch with a huff, turning the TV off again before he joined his brother in the kitchen.

"SO," Papyrus asked once Sans sat down to eat, the younger brother sitting across from him. "I KNOW YOU DON'T LIKE TALKING ABOUT THIS, BUT... DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA YET WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO WORK AS?"

Sans sighed. Right. That was still something he had to think about. He shook his head no.

"WELL THAT'S JUST ALL RIGHT!" Papyrus replied enthusiastically as ever. "WE'LL JUST HAVE TO FIGURE SOMETHING OUT TOGETHER!"

"well good luck with that," Sans muttered a bit grouchy under his breath, Papyrus obviously hearing the comment, but deciding to ignore it.

"SO, WHAT DO YOU LIKE..." He began musing loudly. "BAD FOODS, BAD JOKES... SLEEPING, TAKING NAPS... HMM..."

"maybe i should work as a comedian at a mattress store that sells condiment shots," Sans quipped, Papyrus looking surprised for a moment.

"THAT EXISTS???" He asked, genuinely confused. Sans laughed.

"no, bro, i was kiddin'."

"OH." Papyrus replied, frowning as he felt embarrassed for falling for it. "WELL! DON'T DO THAT!!!"

Sans still kept laughing, only the food in his mouth eventually stopping him. Papyrus still seemed to be thinking about this, musing over ideas for a job for Sans.

“A COMEDIAN SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD IDEA, THOUGH,” Papyrus eventually said. “DO YOU THINK YOU COULD DO THAT???”

Huh. Could he?  
“could maybe see if i could get some small gigs at a comedy bar or so,” Sans said, actually thinking about it a little. “though ‘t wouldn’t be a sustaining job. wouldn’t give a lot.”  
“IT WOULD BE A START!!!” Papyrus insisted encouragingly, while Sans shrugged.

“i guess.”

He figured a bit of stand-up comedy was something Sans could _try._ He had some bad jokes up his sleeve, he just needed a place for him to share them at...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> when sans said "painter" it reminded me of that one time i had to find an internship for school and i called up at a painter bc i thought it had to do with art bc i didnt fucking know better and the social worker that was with me the whole time and knew EXACTLY what i was looking for didnt bother to educate me  
> i actually got the thing and he told me to show up somewhere but i panicked and just never went lol


	6. How to learn Dog

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops im late  
> i was with my mom playing super mario world  
> well heres ur chapter!! woof woof

Friday came faster than expected, and before Sans knew it him and his brother both were standing in front of the bar. It was late already, but still a bit earlier than last time Sans had been here. But the bar seemed already crowded enough, voices and music coming from the place.

Papyrus opened the door with gusto, catching quite some attention from the patrons already there, but not enough to cause a disturbance in the pub. Sans slouched in behind his brother lazily waving towards the dog pack once he spotted them.

“Eyyy, ya came back!” Doggo called excitedly, catching the attention of the other dogs, now all looking at Sans, Dogaressa even yipping his name happily.

“heh, yep. brought my bro,” Sans said, lifting his hand a little that was holding Papyrus’ hand, the skeleton in question giving them a small wave.

“HELLO!!! I AM PAPYRUS!”

The dogs responded excitedly, happy yapping and barking, tails wagging. Papyrus was beaming brightly at them at the warm response, cackling equally as happily. Oh, he looked like he would fit right in with the dog pack. It was kind of adorable.

Doggo eventually motioned them to the free seat, before realizing there was only one left, but two monsters. Sans simply shrugged, though, taking an unoccupied chair from another table, before sitting down next to Papyrus.

“UGH.” The taller skeleton made a noise in disgust, surprising Sans. But he chuckled.

“’sup, bro?”

“WHY IS THIS PLACE SO… GREASY???” He asked, apparently not liking the condition of the chair and table.

Now Sans actually laughed. Not _at_ Papyrus, he just laughed surprised at the situation and amused by his brother’s reaction. Man. He was too cool.

“’s how these kinda places are, bro,” Sans told him with an amused grin.

Dogaressa laughed lightly, too, nodding. “Don’t worry, Grillby keeps this place very clean! The grease is just from the food we ordered earlier!”

That didn’t seem to do a lot for Papyrus’ disgust, simply directing it to the food now. “HOW GREASY DOES IT HAVE TO BE TO LEAVE THIS MUCH… GREASE???” He asked, the dogs all laughing a little.

“c’mon, bro, ‘s just some grease,” he tried to placate his brother, patting him on the shoulder. “you’ll survive. ‘s worth the people ‘ere.”

“...WELL… YES,” Papyrus agreed, but he kept his voice wary. “YOU DO ALL SEEM VERY NICE!!! I APOLOGIZE FOR MY BEHAVIOR.”

The dogs almost collectively shook their heads, except Lesser and Greater Dog who continued yipping happily.

“All’s good,” Doggo assured him, before he began handing them all cards. “Up for poker?” He asked Papyrus, the skeleton giving him a determined nod.

“I AM-”

“’e’s been _bone_ ready,” Sans interrupted his brother with a small snicker, the dogs needing a small moment for the pun to register, before they all burst out in howling laughter.

“NO!!! NO!!! DON’T DO THAT TO ME SANS!!!” Papyrus lamented angrily. “NOT IN FRONT OF ALL OF THESE POTENTIAL FRIENDS!!!”

But Sans was still snickering, almost wheezing of laughter when he petted Papyrus’ arm. “’m sorry, bro,” he wheezed out. “’m sorry. i ‘ad to.”

 

Sans suspicion that Papyrus wouldn't be very talented at poker turned out to be true, Sans realized once they started playing. He wasn't _as_ bad as Greater and Lesser Dog were, but he still had very obvious signs like focusing too hard and obviously on trying to look 'normal' or having those small, brief moments where he forgot he had to keep a neutral face and let his emotion slip through, only to then realize and try to convince the others of the exact opposite.

Though, in his defense, the dogs were about as bad at keeping their showing signs little as they were at noticing the others, so Papyrus actually did... decently?

He was definitely having a good time, focusing hard on the game like it was a life or death matter to him, yet never turning to be a sore loser or mean winner. He was a fair player with a lot of determination, which Sans just had to look up to in slight awe.

Sans himself never could help himself but to tease at least a little when others lost, not in a mean willed way of course. Just lighthearted quips and teases, but it was still something Sans hardly could go without. Meanwhile Papyrus just seemed... too focused on making sure _everyone_ was having a good time to simply enjoy his win for himself.

Man, he was _really_ cool.

Papyrus wasn't much of a drinker. He's never been and Sans had the suspicion he never would be. He just didn't seem like the type to want to get drunk, to ever lose any control over himself this way.

Sometimes Sans wondered if that was his fault. If his past alcohol problems had that kind of impact on Papyrus, making him reluctant to try drinking himself.

But Papyrus didn't seem _scared_ or even _against_ drinking per-say, he just... wasn't interested.

So when they all ordered drinks, all Papyrus ordered was a milkshake.

Sans was trying to avoid Grillby. He wasn't obvious about it, wasn't leaving the table when he came to take their orders or blatantly looking away. He just kind of didn't pay him more attention than he had to, watching the elemental from his peripheral vision.

He seemed surprised to see Sans here again, let alone with his brother, too. But Grillby didn't say anything. _He_ seemed to be acting the same way. He never stroke up a conversation with Sans, never left any hint on that they knew each other, that they had history.

Then again, Sans figured he didn't do that with anyone. He responded to others approaching him, but that was it. And Sans wasn't approaching him. So nothing ever happened between them.

By the time it was closing to midnight, Sans was slightly tipsy. They just finished their game of poker when Papyrus checked the time.

"IT'S LATE. I THINK IT IS TIME FOR US TO LEAVE!" He decided, glancing at his brother as he ignored the small disappointed whines he got from some of the dogs.

"eh, i think i'll stay," Sans replied with a shrug, surprising Papyrus a little.

"ARE YOU SURE?" He asked a bit doting.

"yea, don' worry 'bout me, paps," Sans assured him casually. "y' can go ahead. i'll join ya after one more game."

Papyrus hesitated for a moment, like he wanted to insist for Sans to come home, too, or maybe didn't want to leave him here alone. But eventually he nodded.

"VERY WELL, BROTHER! I WILL BE TAKING MY LEAVE THEN!" He said, getting up from his chair, facing the dogs. "THANK YOU FOR THE GAME!!! I HAD A LOT OF FUN, I HOPE WE CAN REPEAT THAT SOME TIME!"

"Ya were good fun as well, Papyrus," Doggo agreed, the other dogs chiming in.

"Hope to see you again soon!" Dogamy added, before they bid their goodbyes and Sans watched Papyrus leave.

"so," Sans said once his brother was gone. "one more game."

"One more drink, too?" Dogamy asked and Sans shrugged.

"sure, why not."

Except by the time they finished their game, Sans hadn't finished his drink yet, so he decided to stay for another game. But by the time that one was done, he'd already gotten a new drink.

And two games turned to three, turned to four, the amount of drinks growing with the games, until the dogs started filing out one after another again, eventually leaving Sans alone at the table.

And it repeated, too. After that week, Sans went back the Friday after that, without Papyrus. And then the next Monday, too. And Wednesday, and then the weekend. It... became a pattern. He came, he played poker, he drank. He ignored Grillby, ordered more drinks than he had to, stayed longer than he probably should, ending up as one of those regulars that always stuck until closing time, like Reese's and Red.

And it happened again the next friday.

He has stayed until all the dogs left, until Sans was only left with Lesser Dog. They weren't playing anymore, Dogamy had brought the cards and also taken them with him. Besides, Sans had the suspicion Lesser didn't even know how to play by themselves without Greater Dogs help.

"so why're y' still 'ere?" Sans slurred at the dog. Lesser cocked his head confused.

"don' get me wrong, i ain't tryna get rid of ya," Sans quickly assured, realizing he might've come off as rude. "'m just sayin'. ev'ryone left, 's late. we drank a lot."

Lesser Dog barked at him, causing Sans to narrow his eyes. "...man i should really try ta learn dog," he muttered, realizing he didn't understand a thing. Lesser seemed to catch up on that, too, so he lifted his paw, pointing one clawed finger at Sans chest. The skeleton chuckled, dry and weakly.

"yea, guess 'm talkin' bout myself, aren't i?" He uttered out. He wasn't even sure if Lesser Dog even drank anything, he sure didn't seem _drunk_. Did dogs get drunk? Doggo got drunk...

Lesser Dog barked again once, twice, Sans shrugging in reply.

"jus' don' really feel like goin' home, i guess," he said. He didn't actually know what Lesser Dog was saying, but the dog didn't complain either, just listening, looking at Sans with beady eyes, curious. "'s like 'm waitin' for s'methin' t' happen, y'know? an' if i leave, 't can' really happen no more."

The dog made a small, confused whining noise, cocking his head left and right, ears flapping a little with the movement.

"wha' am i waitin' for?" It was a question Sans actually had to ask himself. What _was_ he waiting for? For Grillby to go up to him, tell him there was a perfectly reasonable explanation for everything that happened?

...Kind of.

It was childish and a thought Sans hadn't _quite_ allowed to form in his head, but it still did in the back of his mind, subconsciously, fueling him with an irrational sense of hope and longing. He _knew_ it wouldn't ever happen. If Grillby had a 'perfectly fine explanation,' which Sans couldn't even _begin_ to imagine what that could be, then the elemental wouldn't have had to hide his explanation so far.

And even _if_ he had one, would things really be fine again? Go back to how they were once? Even _if_ Grillby had a perfectly good explanation, Sans had still got hurt. He's still gone through hell and back, without the support of the one he once called his boyfriend, him in fact just being another source to his depression.

No explanation could undo that. Could go back in time to make those times fine again.

Sans sighed, which caused Lesser Dog to let out a small, sad whine. His head was lying on the table, paws at the edge of it as he looked up at Sans with big eyes. God damn it.

"d'awww," Sans had to coo out. "c'mon ld, y' don' gotta worry 'bout ol' me. 'm just bein'... bit melancholic..."

"...About us?" Grillby asked, Sans yelping in surprise. He hadn't realized the elemental had shown up, and he glared up at him once he did.

"'ey yell it out while yer at it!" He complained, Grillby letting out a small sigh. He was collecting their dirty dishes, but didn't seem too hurried to get back to the kitchen to clean them.

"Relax," he said carefully. "It's only us and Lesser here, and he knows more than he lets on anyways."

Lesser Dog barked in confirmation, his sorrow frown suddenly a bright smile, tongue lolling out a bit as he dog-panted happily. Sans looked around surprised and, they were actually the only ones left. Even Reese's and Red were gone.

"You know, you don't have to force yourself here if it's... just destroying you emotionally," Grillby told him. He sounded firm and certain, but... scared. Like he didn't quite _want_ to say it. "It's okay to avoid me if the alternative just hurts you. I understand."

Sans let the words sink in for a moment. He knew that... right? He didn't have to keep going to this bar if seeing Grillby just broke him slowly.

And... it did, didn't it? He's only been here a few times, but every time entirely overstayed his welcome and getting too drunk. He was playing a dangerous game. Out of desperation, as a way to get Grillby's attention, or maybe just to distract himself.

He didn't _have_ to do it.

He could stop.

But...

He didn't _want_ to.

"c'mon man, 's not like 'm comin' for _you_ ," Sans slurred, not trying to make it sound accusing or angry, but it still came off a little that way. "i wanna be part of th' town, don' wanna get what 'appened between _us_ ge' in between my soc-sociality."

The dog made a small, curious noise, Grillby glancing at him. "...I'm sorry, Lesser, it is a bit too much to explain right now," he admitted to the dog. "And it's sort of personal, too."

Lesser Dog let out a small whine, but he nodded anyways. He got off his chair, waving them both an enthusiastic goodbye before leaving the establishment, sensing he should be giving them space. As soon as they were alone again Grillby, having been watching Lesser leave, turned back to Sans.

"I... suppose you are right. I did not think through what I said," Grillby mused out apologetically. "I'm just... worried about you. I don't think this is doing you good right now."

And he was right, wasn't he? If Sans would make staying late into the night to get drunk a habit, it _wouldn't_ do him any good. And the way he had done it _twice_ now, knowing very well what he was doing, Sans had the awful suspicion it _would_ turn into a habit eventually.

"so what're y' expectin' me to do? drop my social life 'cause a this?" It was a genuine question. He knew he couldn't just never come here again. But what _else_ was he supposed to do?

"...Or we could... try to talk about it." Grillby suggested, his tone wary, like he wasn't sure how Sans would react to it. Sans narrowed his eyes in response.

"...'bout what?" He asked a bit confused.

"...You know," Grillby simply said, and there was a small moment the flame actually assumed Sans would know. He genuinely didn't. He was confused. So eventually Grillby sighed, deciding to elaborate. "Why this is so hard for us. Why we... both seem to not be able to let things go."

 _Him too_ , Sans thought surprised. Grillby hadn't been able to let it go, either. Sans wasn't the only one bothered by this, this ridiculous hope or feeling that he knew wasn't good or realistic or anything.

"aight," Sans finally said. "le's talk."

But Grillby shook his head no. "I'm closed this Sunday. Come over then."

"...why?"

"You're... drunk. I want this talk to happen when we can both think rationally." The elemental said, and it sounded like a fact. Not an accusation, not something he looked down onto, just a fact, which it _was_. But it oddly still offended Sans for a moment.

But... if he was already here, way past midnight, talking to a monster who's language he didn't even understand, getting drunk off his head... How rational _could_ he act? Grillby was right, and Sans knew it.

"fine," he sighed, getting off the bar chair and putting on his jacket. "i'll be 'eading home then."

He waved Grillby goodbye, not looking back as he left the bar, marching through the snow.

By the time Sans arrived Papyrus was already asleep, but there was a small note on the door of his room saying, "I LOVE YOU, BROTHER. I HOPE YOU ARE DOING OKAY!!!" Which warmed Sans' heart a little. Especially when he looked closer, spotting the smaller, "P.S. THERE IS A SOCK IN THE LIVING ROOM FROM YOU, PLEASE PICK IT UP," making Sans let out a small giggle.

He wondered how things would go next Sunday. Would he even remember by the time he woke up? No, he would. He wasn't _that_ drunk yet. But... what was he _expecting_ from that talk? That Grillby would finally tell him where he fucking _was_?

Kind of.

But then what? Would he just forgive him? Move on? Trust him again?

No, he couldn't. He couldn't _ever_.

But he... oddly hoped he would anyways...

 


	7. Hot Topics

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so writers blocked lately ughhhhhhhhhh  
> i hope y'all're appreciating im still going through this for you, because i'm going through hell

Sans hands were shaking a little and he didn't quite understand why. He wasn't supposed to be this nervous, but standing in front of Grillby's, knocking the door when the sign was obviously turned to ‘CLOSED’ still kind of made him feel... out of place? Anxious?

There were a couple of passerby's that had thrown him a curious look. The new neighbor that hadn't been in town for even a month, and now was already visiting Grillby on his day off. Did Grillby get a lot of visitors? Maybe. He seemed to know his regulars well at least.

The door opened after a minute or two, revealing Grillby in a much more casual wear than when he visited the bar rather than the elemental. His vest and bow tie were gone, instead he was wearing a simple white shirt with some comfortable pants.

"You came," he said, sounding a little surprised. But he stepped out of the doorway, making room for Sans. "Come in."

Sans nodded, letting himself into the empty bar. It seemed different than usually. Even than when Sans had stayed long enough to be left the only one at the bar. It was quieter, the jukebox not running any songs. It was cleaner, the chairs were on the tables for Grillby to clean the floors. There were no empty glasses or dirty napkins, no grease stains on the tables or booths.

"Let's go upstairs, yes?" Grillby asked, leading Sans towards the backroom, the skeleton following easily. His tone was calm and collected, but Sans found he still knew him well enough from their past together to notice that he was still a little nervous.

Neither of them knew how this would end, what they were expecting or hoping from this even. But... things were weird between them. They were both unable to quite... let go. And they had to do _something_.

"You can sit anywhere," Grillby told him once they arrived in his apartment over the bar. "Would you like anything? Something to drink?"

"'m fine, thanks," Sans replied, his voice clipper than usually, keeping himself short. He sat down on the living room couch.

It looked different than the one Grillby had back then. Obviously it would, when Grillby left he left the couch at his old apartment, and they were locked up underground now. There was no way he could've gotten his old one, and there was no real reason why he should get one that'd look exactly like it.

But it was still... odd. Seeing Grillby with a couch that wasn't _his_. That wasn't the one Sans connected to him, to his past. It was like getting reminded how much time has passed, how much he's missed of the other's life, how _different_ things were now.

"nice place," Sans decided to say as he heard the elemental come back from the kitchen, carrying two cups of tea. Sans had said he didn't want anything, but he figured Grillby would feel awkward drinking one alone and brought him one anyways, so he decided not to comment on it, simply accepting the cup with a, "thanks."

"I've made it my home," Grillby replied. "It's not too fancy of a place, but it's... my place. I'm comfortable here."

It was truly not the biggest apartment. Smaller than Sans' and Papyrus' house definitely, though it was still bigger than what Sans remembered Grillby living in back then.

"glad y' settled well," Sans said and Grillby nodded.

And then there was a silence. An awkward, too long drawn out silence, though it might've been just a few seconds. They were done with the small talk, the chit-chat, and now stuck nervous and not knowing how to breach the next topic, how to address the elephant in the room.

Sans had hoped Grillby would do it himself, but he was just as awkwardly quiet as Sans was, taking a little sip from his steaming tea. Sans did, too, just to avoid having to talk, but he winced when he burnt his tongue.

"Sorry, it's... hot," Grillby said, glancing at the skeleton apologetically. "Should've warn you."

' _it's cool, the tea isn't the only thing hot in here_ ,' is what Sans would've replied years ago. But now he just nodded, scrambling to find his words.

"happens," he muttered out eventually.

"Yea... I, er..." Grillby was stammering, his hands tightening around the cup a little. "So... about... _us_ ," he finally said, and Sans could feel it triggering a pit of anxiety inside him.

But he nodded.

"right. that."

"It's... hard to pretend there's... _nothing_ between us," the elemental mused, which, well. Which was kind of surprising. Because Grillby hadn't seemed to give him any special attention at all, hadn't seemed off or special when Sans was at the bar in the least.

But then again, had Sans?

He had tried to not pay any more attention to Grillby than he absolutely needed to, sometimes even going as far as trying to avoid him. But it's been tough. Even when he hadn't noticed, when Sans hadn't thought about it, he subconsciously always been aware of the other presence, always been thinking that was someone he _knew_ , someone he's been _so close_ to.

Someone he had missed, someone he had needed so badly, yet hadn't been there.

"...there's _is_ nothin' between us, grillby," the skeleton said anyways, his voice low, holding back.

"You know that's not entirely true," Grillby replied, and he was right, yes. But Sans wasn't backing down. So he went on. "You know there _was_ something, and I think we both know there... still _is_."

"i'm not fifteen anymore, grillby. i don't lie in bed awake anymore thinking about my teenage crush." Except he _did_ , didn't he? "you've left me when i needed you the most. you didn't come back because you were scared."

He didn't do it on purpose, but Sans hunched over on himself a little when he said it, arms around his chest protectively, the cup of tea between his arms and chest, giving off warmth.

"whatever feelings there had ever been are gone, grillby. and i'd expect the same from your side."

Too much time had passed since they last had been really together. This wasn't the Grillby anymore from when he was seventeen and Sans wasn't himself anymore from when he was seventeen. They were adults, grown up, gone through ten years of experiences that shaped them, changed them in ways they had both missed from each other.

Whatever feelings they had _had_ for each other went to monsters that didn't exist anymore.

"...Right," Grillby said, and there was a hint in his tone that Sans couldn't quite identify. Sadness? Regret? "Don't get me wrong, I'm... not expecting you to still like me. And I'm not trying to get back on you, I just... In the bar, you said... you're waiting for _something_ to happen..."

Right. Right. Grillby had heard that.

What was he supposed to say? That he had been drunk, didn't know what he was saying? No, there was truth about it. He knew there was.

"guess 'm just... expectin' the other shoe to drop," he muttered a bit awkwardly.

"So... is this about us... or not?" Grillby asked, urging Sans a bit on.

"yes," he finally sighed out. "yes, 's 'bout us. there's a fuckin' tension an' it's irritating."

"There is," the flame agreed. "That's what i meant with that there's something between us. This... tension."

"well what're y' plannin' to do 'bout it?" Sans asked, watching Grillby expectantly. The elemental didn't answer immediately. Or after a minute. Or two. But after a little bit he said something.

"...What... do you think this 'other shoe' would be...?" He asked both curiously and thoughtfully.

Sans felt himself hesitating. Like he was anxious about admitting what he's been waiting for all this time. But he was expecting Grillby to be honest, so he could only do the same.

"guess you bringin' somethin' up again," Sans said with a shrug. "kind of... this 'xactly. maybe more into the direction of... you tellin' me why you've left."

"You _still_ want to know?" Grillby asked, and the question made Sans feel an immediate rush of annoyance.

What kind of question was that? Had he really thought Sans would just lose interest in finding out the reason why he had been left alone in his worst time?

"'course," was all that Sans said, though, the hint of annoyance still deep in his voice, but he held himself back.

"It's... not going to help you, you know," Grillby argued with the exact thought Sans had had before _himself_. "It's not going to undo what happened. What I did." But not knowing didn't help Sans either. It just left him in a limbo of why, why, _why_ had he left?

He said it wasn't because of Sans, but what if it _was_? Or what if it was something that _still_ mattered? Was it because of his family? Because of one of their old friends? Or was it work, maybe?

Or was there just something big and dark that Grillby was hiding, because he _knew_ the elemental was capable enough of _killing_ people, what _else_ could he do?

"you _left_ me, grillby," Sans reminded him eventually, his voice not angry, but firm. "for ten years. y' left me not telling why or where to or for how long. 'm not just gonna let it go. i wanna know what made you think 's just fine to suddenly leave me alone."

"I didn't decide that," Grillby sighed. "And you weren't alone. You had your family, you had the rest of the gang."

" _the gang_ was only me and mad ghost at that point," Sans reminded him. "and my dad disappeared. it was only me and papyrus, _who was twelve_."

"Sans, I didn't-"

"and after we got locked up down here i lost contact to mads-"

"I'm not _responsible_ for you!" Grillby interrupted him, not exactly yelling, but raising his voice a little. "Sans, I'm _sorry_ about what happened! I'm _sorry_ I left you during such a bad time. But I had a life, too, I had issues and problems I had to deal with _my_ way. I couldn't have known Dr. Gaster would die-"

"-disappear."

"-couldn't have known we would end up down here. I couldn't have stopped it either."

He was right. He couldn't have. And he wasn't responsible for Sans, wasn't his personal little mental support buddy.

But he had... trusted him. Had put so much belief and trust and love into Grillby back then, and when he left just like that without a word... it fucking hurt. How could he have done this to him?

"...could've been there for me," Sans replied, his tone timid, upset. "could've come back. y' had no problem acceptin' me back into your life _now_ , what stopped y' ten- no, even only five years ago?"

"...I didn't think you'd still _want_ me," Grillby argued, at which Sans sighed. Right. That.

"well next time maybe ask me," the skeleton muttered out. "'stead of just... assuming."

There was a small, tense silence where Grillby didn't reply, looking down his lap guiltily, knowing exactly this one was on him.

"I'm... sorry," he said eventually.

Sans glanced up at him for a short while, taking in the elemental’s expression. Sad and tired and apologetic. He never actually seemed like he actively wanted to hurt Sans, like he actively wanted to lie to him, to deceive him.

"...i know," Sans sighed out.

"I... still can't tell you why I left," Grillby went on, and Sans sighed again, longer this time.

"i know," he repeated, the words drawn out like they were exhausting him. He did, though. He did know.

"what now?" Sans asked, and there was genuine lostness in his voice. "how do we go on? just... keep doin' what we've been doing?"

"Do you... think you can move on?" Grillby asked, and Sans shook his head no. This was going to bother him for a long while. "I don't... think I could either," Grillby admitted, and for a moment Sans thought there would be another tense, drawn out silence. But this time Grillby went on fairly quick.

"Feel free to decline, but... what if we'd try... being friends again?" He asked slightly awkwardly. And Sans blinked at him appropriately surprised, appropriately weirded out.

"...excuse me?" He asked with almost a hint of offense in his voice. Where in this whole conversation did Grillby draw out the conclusion of them getting closer again?

"I'm just saying... we're stuck on old memories. Bad memories partially..." His voice was slightly hesitant at the last part, like he didn't quite _want_ to add it, but did out of decency. "You could... come over sometimes for a cup of coffee or tea. We don't have to become anything to close friends, just..."

"get to know each other," Sans continued for him. "us _now_ , not us from such a long time ago."

"Replace the old memories for newer, better ones, or at least make up for them," Grillby finished with a small nod. "We could just talk a bit. If that's okay with you."

Was it okay with him? He didn't want to let himself close to Grillby again. Didn't want to trust him again. But this wasn't getting close to him, trusting him, it was just getting to know the person he was _now_ and Grillby doing the same of him.

So they wouldn't have to remember their past every time they saw each other. So that awkward tenseness would be gone between them, or at least not as strong anymore.

Just talking? Yea... he could do that...

"sure," Sans finally said. "why not."

Grillby's eyes seemed to brighten at the reply, the elemental not having been sure what kind of answer to expect. But he was all the more glad Sans had accepted.

"Thank you," he said, his voice slightly breathy, like he was stuck in a gasp. "Would... Would you like another cup of tea, then?"

"slow down there, grillbz, i didn' agree on gettin' buddy-buddy right away," Sans noted, Grillby's almost excited expression deflating the smallest bit.

"R...Right... sorry," he muttered a tad awkwardly, seemingly feeling genuinely bad, for which Sans ended up feeling sort of bad. He ended up waving it off, shrugging slightly.

"'s wha'ever," he said casually, circling the by now empty cup in his hand. "yea 'd like some tea, though." Grillby blinked surprised, needing a moment, before he finally nodded.

"Right! Of course, I'll make one right away," he said, gently taking the empty cup from Sans' hands and head to the kitchen. "I'll be right back."

Sans nodded, watching the elemental leave the room.

So this was a thing now. This was happening. Them, actually going to be more than just odd acquaintances that tried to ignore each other whenever they could. Somehow this wasn't an outcome Sans had expected, and... he wasn't sure how to feel about it.

Was it the right decision? To let Grillby into his life again? But then again, it wasn't like they were going to be especially close now. Just... friends? Maybe.

Grillby came back only a little bit later, a fresh cup of steaming tea in his hands that Sans' gratefully took from him. He had to admit, his tea was really good, even if Sans wasn't exactly the tea kind of person.

Sans had expected there to be another, longer awkward silence, Sans sure didn't know what to do next. Talk, Grillby had said, but about what?

Turns out, Sans didn't have to worry about that at all, though, as Grillby already picked the conversation up pretty quickly himself. And... he did it clever, too. Rather than asking for Sans' own life, something the skeleton had expected and maybe dreaded, he instead immediately went on to ask about Papyrus.

How was he doing? How old was he now? Does he already have a job? Any plans for the future?

And Grillby must've done it on purpose, because Sans ran right into it, ending up talking more about Papyrus in those one or two hours than he probably had talked in total this week.

"'e's been wantin' t' join the police force since graduating," Sans told the elemental proudly, having just told him about when Papyrus had graduated in the first place, how proud and happy Sans had been. Deciding not to add the part how he took it as a chance to quit his job, to fall into a hole of depression.

"The police force?" Grillby asked surprised, impressed. "Why exactly?"

"wants t' make the world a safer place," the skeleton explained, his voice dripping with pride. "ain't he the sweetest? police trainin's way too expensive right now, though."

"I've heard King Asgore is trying to work on that," Grillby mused now. "There's not many able to join the police, making them scarce and weak for defense. It's all in the works."

"'s what paps told me, too," Sans responded, his mouth twitching into a soft smile, like he was recalling a pleasant memory. "'e's waitin' for some kinda openin'. a chance. but 'e's already makin' a great sentry."

"At the snowdin forest?" Grillby asked, Sans giving him a nod.

"close to the capital," he clarified.

The elemental hummed. "Dogamy told me a bit about it. Apparently he's left a... strong impression."

"'s just 'ow my bro is. leavin' strong impressions wherever 'e goes. makin' the world a better place." And he meant it. Every word. Every day Papyrus existed was a day not as bad as it could have been. Every day Sans got to see him it would be a day that was worth getting up for. Even if he'd nag him, if he'd tell Sans to stop lazing around and pick up his sock, which Sans decided looked really good where it was right now.

It still would be a good day.

And Grillby could tell how much Sans thought that, how much he loved his brother, and it made him feel happy for both of them.


	8. When you finally get the Snowdin pun chance and aren’t even home to bring it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> excessive winking

"'ve been lookin' for standup comedy gigs. some improv stuff."

"Comedy?" Red asked in odd surprisement, before shaking his head, a few, soft feathers getting loose at the movement. "Eh, why am I even asking? Sounds like your thing actually."

"Oh trust me, it is," Grillby replied with a soft chuckle. "I'm more surprised actually you haven't tried sooner. How come?" Grillby was behind the bar across his last two customers, cleaning one of the dirty glasses with a rag. He seemed relaxed, welcoming, more talkative than most customers knew him to be. Though only Red, Reese's and now Sans were the ones that really usually got to see Grillby that late, but even for them it was more.

"'dunno," Sans replied with an easy shrug. "never thought of it. didn' really wanna work at all."

"God, yeaaaa. Work _suuuucks_ ," Red groaned out, leaning his upper body down so it was lying on top of the counter, face hidden in his feathery wing-arms. Grillby gave them both an odd look, quirking a brow.

"Work can be okay," he argued, only causing both the monsters across from him to burst out laughing.

"'s easy for _you_ t' say, mr. owns-a-bar," Sans chuckled out, Red giving him an eager nod.

"Ye-Yea! _You_ don't gotta deal with no boss! You're _basically_ cheating!"

Grillby just rolled his eyes at the comments, though he didn't take it the wrong way. They were messing with him and he knew it.

This, this kind of late-night chit-chat, staying at the bar longer than they probably should just to talk... it's become a kind of tradition. Or maybe habit? A three-way habit.

Sans and Grillby didn't actually... meet to talk. Not after the one time. And it's been some weeks since then. But... they _did_ talk every other day when Sans stayed longer, Grillby and him, but also with Red.

Red was a good guy. An alcoholic, alright, Sans wasn't sure he's ever seen him sober, but one of the good kind. He never seemed to get violent or too inappropriate, was good fun to be around. He didn't mind him being there during Sans' and Grillby's time, Sans usually left once Red would, too.

Usually didn't mean always, though.

"Eyy, I think I'm gonna head home. Got work tomorrow," the bird said, sounding already absolutely demotivated by only the idea.

Sans decided to _not_ help. "oooof, y're gonna be _hungover_ ," he hollered, his voice obviously teasing, though he pretended like he was mourning for him. "a m'nute for our fallen broth'r." He raised his glass, closing his sockets as he hung his head a little, only to feel feathers hitting him on the back of his skull.

"Alright, alright we got it," Red laughed, having already gotten up and gotten his stuff. "I'll see ya around."

"Have a safe trip," Grillby called after him, Red leaving the pub while giving him a thumbs up.

"heh. y' caaaaare 'bout 'im," Sans teased, his face now lying on the bar as he grinned lazily up at the elemental. Grillby gave him an odd look.

"He's my regular and friend. Of course I do," he replied, though there was a wary hint in his tone that already had an idea on where this was gonna go.

"think 'e's gotta crush on ya, grillbz," Sans muttered out now, and he actually gave Grillby a wink, like he was trying to set them up.

"He's just playing, Sans," Grillby assured him with a soft laugh. "Red wouldn't be into me."

"why not? 's he married?"

"Well, no..." Grillby mused. He finally put the glass down, only to pick up the next. "But he's just gone through a divorce. I don't think he'd want to throw himself into the market again so quick."

"oh shit," Sans replied, sitting up a bit straighter, eyes blinking surprised. "damn. i didn' know. 's 'e ok?"

"Sans, you've _just_ talked to him. I don't know more about his mental state than you do," the bartender told him, but his tone was soft. "I think he's going through a bit of a rough phase right now. You shouldn't sugarcoat anything for him, but..."

"ye. gotcha." Sans gave him a small understanding nod. "jus' act normal. don' let 'im feel like th' odd one out cause a the stuff."

Grillby gave him a confirming nod back, before... before the bar sort of dissolved into an awkward silence.

With Red gone, Sans and Grillby were the only ones left, and... _maybe_ one of the reasons why Sans would leave when Red did was because... well... Once Sans was alone with the elemental, conversations just seemed kind of... forced. With drawn out pauses in between... _awkward._

"i, uh... think i should go 'swell," Sans muttered out eventually, tone slightly awkward. Grillby gave him an understanding nod, so Sans tried to get off the bar stool. Only to end up stumbling, almost tripping over his own feet and falling.

The elemental quickly rushed around the bar to catch him, but Sans already caught himself. Though he stood unsteady on his legs, the world spinning around him.

"...Are you okay?" Grillby asked the skeleton, and Sans gave him an assuring nod. That he quickly regretted as it was followed by more nausea. He hadn't realized he drank this much...

"Maybe I should help you home..." The flame mused, and he put an arm around Sans to support his weight as he slowly lead him to the door. Only to find it stuck.

"What the..." He pushed harder, the door opening by a small bit, wades of snow immediately rushing inside.

They were, literally, snowed in...

Neither of them had noticed how bad the snowstorm had gotten. They _knew_ there was a storm, but in snowdin there would be almost every day. Though this one had practically turned into a blizzard within minutes. It _must_ have, Red still got out fine.

Grillby decided to pull the door shut again before the wind would blow more snow inside, turning the open sign around. "I... think you might have to teleport."

The thing was, though, Sans was drunk. Drunk and dizzy and could barely stand by himself. And it wasn't like teleporting required a _lot_ , but if he could barely focus on his own two feet, focusing enough to get home safely was... a challenge.

What other option would he have, though?

"k. see ya 'round," Sans decided to say, before peeling himself off of Grillby. He took a step through the void, the feeling now doing something with his gut, but he didn't think he would throw up. He landed clumsily, with a loud thump, stumbling to catch his balance, before he fell onto his knees and legs.

"Shit, everything okay?" The familiar, warm voice asked again, and... well. Looks like he was still at Grillby's. Three feet from where he's first stood.

"i... don' think i can 'port..." Sans slurred out, his tone slightly apologetic, slightly worried.

Grillby seemed to freeze a little up at that. "...Oh," he said, his voice quiet and hesitant. It made Sans feel panicked.

"s-sorry, 'll jus' call, uh. call paps... 'e'll pick me up," Sans suggested, already fumbling out his phone and trying to find his brothers number. But Grillby caught himself again, waving Sans' suggestion off a bit frantically as the skeleton was already holding his phone to his face.

"No, no, he shouldn't go out during a blizzard!" Grillby argued hastily. "It's fine, really. You can stay on my couch. If... you want..."

Sans eyes were wide, surprised, he could hear Papyrus' voice on the other side of the phone. Grillby offered him to stay. Okay. Okay. It _shouldn't_ be that special. They were... friends probably. It wasn't that odd for friends to stay over night sometimes, especially not when they were _snowed_ in.

But... somehow, right now, it oddly took Sans aback. He just hadn't expected it.

...Maybe he was just that drunk.

"HELLO??? SANS??? CAN YOU HEAR ME???"

"uh, yea, sorry bro," Sans finally slurred out, still a bit taken aback.

"IS EVERYTHING ALRIGHT??? DO YOU NEED ME TO GET YOU?"

"nah, 's cool. jus' called t' le' ya know 'm stayin' with grillby's overnight. kinda snowed in."

"I HAVE NOTICED," Papyrus mused, his tone sounding thoughtful and focused, like he was observing the snow right now. He probably was. "ARE YOU SURE YOU'RE GOING TO BE FINE STAYING WITH GRILLBY??? YOU KNOW IT IS NO PROBLEM TO GET YOU!"

"'s cool, than's bro," Sans replied easily. "'ll see ya t'morrow. love ya."

"I LOVE YOU, TOO, BROTHER!!!" Papyrus chirped through the phone. "STAY SAFE! GOODNIGHT!"

He hang up after that, and Sans spent a few more seconds staring at his screen, before pocketing it and looking up at Grillby.

"So... you're staying...?" The elemental asked, wary, like questioning it would make Sans change his mind.

But it didn't, and the skeleton nodded. "y're right, paps shouldn' go in'o th' storm. thanks..."

"It's absolutely no problem," Grillby assured him, finally helping Sans off the ground he was still sitting on. "Let's go upstairs. I'll prepare the couch for you... Like old times."

And then Sans realized why he was so taken aback.

It would be just like old times.

Grillby helped the skeleton up the stairs, noting that he still had trouble keeping his balance. His hold was gentle, one hand on Sans’ back and the other on his shoulder, not pushing him, only giving him a bit of support to not fall over. He was there would Sans stumble, which was… oddly comforting right now. That and the soft warmth… their mutual silence was comfortable rather than tense this time…

Sans found himself longing for the touch again once Grillby let go, leaving Sans at the couch to get a pillow and a blanket. He felt cold without him. He felt… lonely?  
He felt sad…

He’s missed Grillby so much. Over all these years. He’d been so angry at him, had been so hurt and traumatized by what happened. But everything went to shit and… he’s been so alone in it all… Of course he always had Papyrus. And he _loved_ Papyrus. So dearly, so much. He was always there for him…

But sometimes only ever relying on Papyrus felt like a burden. Sometimes Papyrus’ optimism was… too much for Sans to handle. Sometimes Papyrus just _wasn’t_ the person Sans needed to talk to right now.

But he hadn’t _had_ anyone else.

Until now…

When Grillby came back he moved Sans from the couch so gently. He placed down the pillow, spread the blanket over the couch so carefully, like he was preparing the bed for someone he cared for so deeply, for someone who needed his help more than ever. And Sans _knew_ he didn’t, but… getting the care, the gentleness and comfort he’s been craving for so long during his down phase… It felt right. It felt good. It felt like getting something he deserved, albeit late.

“There, all done,” Grillby huffed out with a small smile, sounding like he was sort of proud of himself, which was… oddly cute. Sans made a small, happy noise, before throwing his shoes and hoodie off and climbing under the soft blanket, already cuddling into the pillow.

It wasn’t like Sans didn’t like his own bed. Or heck, even his own couch. But right now? Right now Grillby’s couch felt like _heaven._ Like he was sleeping on a cloud. A comfortably warm cloud, stuffed with love and care and he was _happy._

“...Sleep well,” the elemental said softly, and he was heading to leave the room, but…

Sans reached out for him, a hand holding onto Grillby’s wrist.  
“...wai’,” Sans slurred out, voice quiet and tired. “don’… leave yet...”

And Grillby didn’t. In fact, he just stood there, unmoving and quiet, glancing at Sans… surprised. It was only after a few moments that he spoke, his voice quiet, like he was afraid of waking up a Sans who wasn’t even asleep yet.

“...Do you… need anything else?” He asked, eyes laced with concern.

Did Sans need anything? No. He just… was scared of being alone again. Of being… _left_ again. Would Grillby come back if he left now…? When would he…? Would he wake up alone, having to fend for himself again with no support?

“…stay… please?” Sans ended up practically whining out, which seemed to just surprise Grillby all the more.

“Sans, you’re drunk… I don’t know if I shoul-”

“i don’ wanna be alone,” Sans interrupted him, his usually deep voice suddenly higher in a whine. “...no’ again...”

And that struck Grillby. It struck him somewhere deep and hard, painful, because he _knew_ Sans was talking about him. About him leaving him.

Sans was drunk. He knew Sans was drunk, knew that if he _weren’t_ he’d never say any of this. Never let himself be this… _vulnerable_ around Grillby, this trusting, this _needy._

But the thing was, whether Sans was drunk right now or not, he looked almost… _scared._ And leaving him alone seemed… _cruel_ right now.

“...Alright,” he finally breathed out, sitting down at the edge of the couch by Sans’ feet. “Only until you’ve fallen asleep, then I’ll go to bed myself. Is that good?”  
Sans nod was small and soft, reflecting the tone of his voice. “kay… thank you…”

It turns out Grillby didn’t have to stay for a very long time anymore at all. Sans fell asleep only moments later, his breathing slowing a little, eyes closed. He looked content. Not exactly _happy,_ since his mouth wouldn’t form to his usual, lazy smile when he was asleep, let alone a genuine one. But content, comfortable… like he felt safe. And it warmed Grillby.

He wished he could see this more often. Wished he could lie down next to the skeleton. Wished he could let his hand run over Sans’s soft face, leave a small good night’s kiss.

But it wouldn’t be fair. It wouldn’t be right.

So Grillby got up, silently, leaving Sans to go into his own room…

 

Sans woke up to noise coming from the kitchen. There were a few moments where Sans simply lied awake assessing the several small things on why he knew he wasn't home.

The noise was soft and careful, like whoever was in the kitchen didn't want to wake him. It wasn't like Papyrus _wanted_ to wake Sans, but as soft as his soul was, he didn't seem to be quite capable to bang his pots at a moderate volume.

But aside from that, the couch was too soft and comfortable. Their own couch was comfortable, yes, but it was also old and worn and you would notice that when lying on it. Besides, he seemed to have both a pillow and a blanket, and... Sans usually simply was too lazy to get either of those when falling asleep on the couch.

But what was the dead give-away was when Sans finally opened his eyes, staring up at the ceiling. It wasn't made of wood or quite as high up as their own. But therefore it was littered in scorch marks and soot.

Ah. He was on Grillby's couch.

Sans couldn't quite remembered what exactly went down yesterday, but he remembered enough small things to figure something out. He remembered a snowstorm. Remembered being drunk. Remembered Red leaving, leaving Grillby and Sans alone. So he had stayed? Probably couldn't quite teleport anymore.

Had anything else happened? He didn't remember. Was kind of dreading it.

"so...," Sans called over to where the noises came from, his voice a bit rough from sleep. "anythin' embarrassin' i did yesterday?"

There was no reply. Sans sat up oddly confused, glancing towards the kitchen to realize it was a bit farther away than he remembered. So Grillby probably hasn't heard him at all and Sans was talking to himself like an idiot. Welp. Guess there was his embarrassing thing that happened.

Whatever.

He pushed himself off the couch tiredly, making sure he was presentable, before walking over to the kitchen. It was... odd seeing Grillby first thing in the morning. The elemental stood by the stove, casual wear with an apron over his shirt. It was... odd seeing Grillby out of his vest and bow tie, even now after he had seen him like this a few times. He's seen him much more often in the bar, so that was simply what Sans pictured Grillby like when he would think of him.

"mornin'," the skeleton slurred, standing by the doorway, leaning slightly against the frame of it. Grillby turned around to see Sans, giving him an abashed smile.

"...Sorry. Woke you up?"

"nah, 's cool," Sans assured him casually. "so... looks like i slept 'ere..."

The elemental glanced at him for a moment, like he didn't quite understand, before nodding. "Don't remember a lot?" He asked. Sans shook his head no. "Nothing bad happened. You just decided to stay for the night rather than letting Papyrus pick you up."

"ah." Makes sense. Especially if there was a storm last night.

"How are you feeling?"

"'eads killin' me," Sans told him in the most upbeat voice he could, getting a soft chuckle from the elemental.

"Sorry to hear that," he said anyways, moving to one of the kitchen cabinets. "Sit down. I'll get you some pain killers."

Sans obliged easily, sitting down by the kitchen table, swallowing down the glass of water with the pain killer greedily. Nothing better than dulling out a hangover headache in the morning.

Grillby handed him a plate of fried eggs as he joined him on the table with his own plate. Sans took it gratefully, blinking down at the breakfast impressed.

"y'know, y' don't gotta do this for me," Sans muttered out a bit awkwardly. "was just gotta get outta your skin..."

"No, no it's fine," Grillby assured him. "Really, I don't mind. Having you over. It's kind of... nice?"

Sans glanced up at him. "nice?" He repeated, with a hint of confusion in his voice. A hint that was played. Very played. Because he knew. He understood. But the worst was, he related.

He didn't want to.

"Having you here," Grillby elaborated anyways. "It's kind of like... when we were younger. It's nice, I missed it. Missed you. Missed..." _Us_. _Them_.

"...wha' happened last night?" Sans asked, his tone wary. But Grillby shook his head no.

"Nothing did. I just thought, maybe you'd want to…" He didn’t go on, instead making a vague movement with his palm, like Sans could figure out the rest.

And he could.

And he did.

And that scared him.

“i… i gotta-” Sans got up, quickly, hurried, Grillby following suit with a hissed out curse.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” he hissed out, a hand running through his flames. He went ahead Sans to pick up his hoodie, handing it to him. “I read too much into it, I just… S-Sorry, I thought there was something...”

And there was. There _was_ something. When Sans held onto the hoodie the other gave him, hands brushing Grillby’s, and the elemental didn’t quite let go for a moment. Didn’t let go when Sans hesitantly moved his hand onto Grillby’s. When he gently pulled him down, until their faces were at the same height and they leaned in, they _both_ did, but _Sans_ put his arm around Grillby. And it was warm, and it was _nice_ and it was wrong.

This wasn’t right. This wasn’t _the time!_ Grillby had hurt him, _the_ Grillby that Sans was longing for, that Sans was remembering, that Sans missed so much. He had _hurt_ him. Had abandoned him. Hadn’t been there for him.

And Sans pulled away again, eyes wide in shock, a small gasp on his metaphorical lips.

“no,” he breathed out, voice quiet. “no. we’re not doing this.”  
He turned around, putting his hoodie on. He could feel Grillby staring into his back.

“Sans...”  
“we’re _not_ doing this,” Sans repeated. And it was final. They weren’t. Gonna. Do this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this is the last chapter i have in store  
> RIGHT NOW im very busy with school, but i MIGHT have more time soon and manage to finish another chapter until next week? I cant make any promises tho, i'm very sorry!


	9. Agoraphobia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hooohhh boy, it's been a while since i've updated this one, but im really proud of this and the following chapters so far!  
> i hope y'all're gonna enjoy them as much as i am! have fun!!
> 
> hey btw if you wanna support me you should check out my [fic tumblr](http://perhapshomo.tumblr.com/) if you havent already

“ARE YOU OKAY, BROTHER?”  
No. No, he was not okay. Sans has kept himself locked up in his room for the past few _days,_ telling his brother at first he felt a little sick. Then that he just needed some time alone. But Papyrus voice sounded worried, scared almost, and it hurt Sans to hear him like this.

“...not really,” he admitted through the closed door, his voice sounding like he was joking, but it carried a kind of exhaustion with it that underlined how he was _not_ joking.

“CAN I COME IN?”  
This time Sans didn’t answer. Not verbally at least, but a noise was heard of the lock clicking open, and Papyrus gently tested the waters, opening the door and peeking inside. Sans was on his bed, shirt and pants still from when he came back from Grillby’s. He was hugging his blanket, face almost buried into it.

Grillby had hurt him. Papyrus didn’t know yet _what_ happened, but _something_ must’ve happened that hurt Sans. And he had _been_ with Grillby. And Grillby _was_ still a touchy subject. And they had _both_ trusted the elemental, had both believed that they agreed on _not_ making things difficult, yet Sans was lying on his bed, bags under his eyes like he hadn’t slept at _all_ during the days he kept himself locked up.

Papyrus hated being upset at people. He knew they usually had their reasons why they acted the way they did and helping them was much more efficient than being angry at them. But he couldn’t help himself. Couldn’t help himself but feel a rush of anger at Grillby. For letting _this_ happen again.

“DO YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED?” Papyrus asked, his voice still loud, but as gentle as he could get it. He knelt next to Sans’ mattress, the older brother peeking a bit from behind his blanket. He looked like a mess. He _was_ a mess.

“...he still wants me,” Sans breathed out, voice little. Like he couldn’t quite believe the words himself. “he wants… like… he _left_ me. why would he _leave_ me if… it’s just… _papyrus!_ ”  
“SO HE DOES...” Papyrus mused out thoughtful. “HE STILL HASN’T TOLD YOU WHY HE LEFT?”  
Sans shook his head no.  
“AND HE TOLD YOU HE STILL LOVES YOU?”

“we kissed.”  
“OH.” Papyrus voice was dry, surprising Sans. In a way that made him feel almost anxious. Almost. But not really. He trusted his brother. “SO YOU…?”  
“thing is… it’s… so fuckin’ _difficult_. i see ‘im and it’s not- it’s never, _yes,_ we’re spending time an’ enjoying.” Sans paused, taking a breath. His throat felt tight, but he didn’t want to stop talking, ranting. He rolled to his back, hands slightly in the air as he began gesturing with his words. “it’s always – _always_ \- ‘oohh, this feels just like _back then._ when we were kids. when we were in love.’ we’re _not_ those kids anymore. when we were, grillby _left._ he _hurt_ me. i don’t _want_ to be that kid anymore and i don’t _want_ to date that kid anymore, but that’s all we _see._ ”  
“YOU’RE NOT READY,” Papyrus said. He said it like a statement, partially because it was, but also asking for agreement of Sans.

“i’m not,” Sans agreed. “but also… i… missed him. i missed him _so much_ , papyrus.”  
“I… KNOW...”  
“an’ now he’s _here._ and he wants _me,_ too. but he’s _rushing_ it and i… i don’t...”  
Papyrus got up so quickly it startled Sans, hands clapping together like he just had the most genius idea. “I KNOW WHAT YOU NEED!”  
“...a shower?”  
“YES!” Papyrus agreed, quickly lifting up Sans by putting his hands under the smaller’s arms, carrying him towards the bathroom. “BUT NOT JUST THAT! YOU NEED A BREAK. A VACATION! SOMETHING TO DISTRACT YOU AND GET GRILLBY OFF YOUR MIND! AND I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THAT WILL BE!!!”  
Sans was chuckling, looking Papyrus right in the eyes with how he held him. “...yea? care to fill me in?”  
“NO!!!” Papyrus replied, chirpy as ever. He placed Sans down inside the bathroom, heading to leave again. “TAKE YOUR SHOWER FIRST! I’VE GOT SOMETHING TO DO AND _THEN_ I WILL SHARE MY SECRETS WITH YOU!!!”  
“oooh, mysterious,” Sans hummed. “keepin’ the anticipation up i see. clever.”

 

“YOU _HURT_ HIM.”  
“I didn’t- _Papyrus!_ ”  
“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? THAT THIS IS A WISE IDEA!?” Papyrus was pacing through the kitchen of Grillby’s bar, the elemental trying to get him to calm down.

“I’m an _adult_ Papyrus. And so is Sans,” the flame argued, his voice strained and stressed. “I thought that this was a right decision. That Sans would be interested-”  
“HE’S NOT READY!!!” Papyrus interrupted him angrily, his eyes widening in shock as he noticed himself. “...I’M SORRY. BUT HE IS NOT READY, GRILLBY. AND I DON’T THINK YOU ARE EITHER. RUSHING THIS IS _HURTING_ HIM!!!”

“...How is he…?” Grillby asked. His tone was low, disguising worry.

“NOT GOOD! AND HE WORKED SO HARD TO GET OUT OF HIS DEPRESSION!!! HE COMPLETELY RELAPSED!” Now Papyrus was talking more to himself than Grillby, pacing even more. “I WANTED HIM TO GET _BETTER_ HERE, NOT WORSE...”

“I… am so sorry… I should-”  
“STAY AWAY FROM HIM,” Papyrus finished, glancing at the elemental apologetically. Almost desperate. “PLEASE. HE IS HAVING SUCH A HARD TIME. JUST… LET HIM SORT THINGS OUT FOR HIMSELF. DON’T ENGAGE. NOT UNTIL HE’S GOT HIS FEELINGS SORTED OUT. UNTIL _YOU’VE_ GOT YOUR FEELINGS SORTED OUT.”

“I _have_ my feelings sorted out, Papyrus!” Grillby argued, slightly offended. He knew Papyrus meant well. He knew Papyrus just wanted to protect his brother. But coming into _Grillby’s_ bar, keeping him from work to chide him like a _child?_ It was disrespectful. “And I can not always tell what’s going on in Sans’ head. Whether he’s ready or not. Yes, I admit I went a little too far this time, but I _know_ my feelings.”  
Papyrus seemed surprised, but eventually let out a small sigh. “OKAY. I APOLOGIZE FOR ASSUMING YOU DID NOT,” he uttered out, his voice not entirely seeming… honest. Not like he entirely believed him. “BUT PLEASE. THE LAST THINGS SANS NEEDS RIGHT NOW IS… YOU. IS YOU MAKING ANY MOVES ON HIM. YOU BRINGING UP CONFLICTING FEELINGS. HIS LIFE SHOULDN’T REVOLVE AROUND YOU ANYMORE. AND NEITHER SHOULD YOURS, BECAUSE QUITE FRANKLY, YOU LOST THAT PRIVILEGE WHEN YOU LEFT HIM.”

This time Grillby glanced away guiltily. He kept quiet, neither disagreeing nor agreeing. Though he hadn’t been planning to make any ‘moves’ on Sans anymore in the first place. Sans… obviously didn’t want it.

“I APOLOGIZE FOR TAKING UP YOUR TIME, GRILLBY,” Papyrus finally said. “I HOPE YOU TAKE MY WORDS TO HEART. I WILL BE LEAVING NOW. GOODBYE.”

“...Make sure Sans is okay,” Grillby muttered out as he watched Papyrus leave the backroom again. The skeleton paused for a moment, nodding back at him before he finally left.

 

“can’t believe we’re in the capital again. doesn’t feel anything like home.”  
“DON’T BE NEGATIVE SANS!!!” Papyrus chided softly. “WE’RE HERE TO ENJOY OURSELVES!”  
“positively doesn’t feel like home.”

Papyrus stopped arguing, but still let out a displeased grunt, getting a small chuckle from Sans.

“so, where’d ya get those concert tickets from anyway?” Sans asked, eyeing his brother curiously. Figuring out that they were going to a _concert_ had been hard enough in the first place. It took him an entire day of not bugging Papyrus at all until his brother broke and showed him the trailer on TV.

Apparently Mettaton still wasn’t broadcasted yet, but the commercial for his concert went on loop, showing a darkened stage covered in fog, lights in hues of pink and blue and purple, until a rectangular silhouette appeared in the middle of the fog, accompanied by pink, flashy letters announcing his concert. Apparently that’s how he wanted to make his debut.

“INTERNET!” Papyrus replied happily. “THEY WERE PRICEY, BUT I SAVED UP FOR OCCASIONS LIKE THIS!!!”

Sans had to suppress a sigh at this. He wished Papyrus would’ve kept the money for something more… useful. Not that he minded Papyrus going to concerts. If Papyrus wanted to spend his money on concert tickets, god bless, he’s an adult man and free to do so.  
It was just that _Sans_ did not want to spend any money on concert tickets, and _Papyrus_ doing so on _his_ behalf felt… like a waste. Sans wasn’t particularly interested in concerts. He was going mostly to entertain Papyrus, keep him from worrying. And because he had a point in Sans needing a distraction from… what was going on.

The distraction just _didn’t have_ to be so expensive.

But now they were already here in the capital, concert tickets bought, and Papyrus seemed so excited. Sans couldn’t ever dare to ruin this for him.

They got noticeably closer to the concert. It was noticeable by the growing commotion, until they found themselves face-to-face with a loud crowd, Papyrus already showing off their tickets before they finally became part of the crowd.

There were monsters of all kind, monsters of more shapes and colors Sans had seen in a long while. And while he wasn’t exactly claustrophobic or whatever the fear of being in a crowd would be called, flooded by a crowd this large and loud still felt… suffocating. Like he would be mufasad love parade style any moment.

“’dunno if i’ll even be able to _see_ anything this way...” Sans muttered, more to himself than anyone else. But Papyrus heard, making a confused noise, before picking up on Sans’ problem. On Sans’ problem of being a very short monster in a very large crowd.

“OH!!! DON’T WORRY!” Papyrus told him quickly, before lifting Sans up and sitting him on his shoulders. The shorter skeleton let out a surprised gasped, quickly holding with his hands onto Papyrus’ skull, before letting out a breathless chuckle.

“geez, paps! you plannin’ to keep me up here all day?”  
“YES!” Papyrus replied happily. “YOU WEIGH NOTHING, DO NOT WORRY!”  
“wasn’t going to,” Sans assured, before relaxing on Papyrus’ shoulders. It _was_ easier to see this way.

There wasn’t anyone on the stage yet and it was dark, but the fog machines were already full business, almost making the stage a mirror image of the one he’s seen in the commercial. There were monsters all around them, chatting excitedly with drinks and snacks.

“wonder why there’re even so many monsters here. no one even knows what this mettaton’s whole thing is.”  
Papyrus let out a considerate hum, before replying, “WELL, DO YOU REMEMBER HOW MANY MONSTERS WENT TO THE LAST CONCERTS?”

“paps, there haven’t _been_ any concerts since we got locked- oh. i get it.”  
“IT IS A HUGE EVENT!!!” Papyrus elaborated still. “SOME OF THE MONSTERS HERE HAVEN’T BEEN TO A CONCERT IN THEIR _ENTIRE LIVES!_ THIS IS THE FIRST ONE IN A _CENTURY!_ ”

“yea, now that y’ say it like that. pretty big event,” Sans admitted, getting an appreciative hum from Papyrus. And then a hurried shush, as spotlights suddenly started moving, pointing onto the stage until a familiar silhouette appeared. Familiar because this was pretty much just a knockoff from the commercial on TV. The hues of the spotlights were the same, the fog, the atmosphere. It was actually pretty… nicely done.

What was different, though, was that eventually the fog lifted, representing a rectangular robot on a single wheel, metallic arms ending in gloves. Aside from a few buttons and regulators, the robot seemed to have a big LED screen on his front, displaying lights in colors Sans couldn’t quite tell with all the other light sources around. It didn’t seem too flashy for an _entertainment_ robot, but that didn’t seem to put anyone else off.

But what was weirder, much weirder than anything else about this, about being here, was for a small moment, when the fog lifted, Sans almost felt like Mettaton was _looking_ at him. Past everyone in the crowd and right at him. He knew it didn’t make sense. There was nothing special about him, even on Papyrus’ shoulders, he was hardly the weirdest or most noticeable monster around. And besides that, he didn’t even _know_ how he could tell. The robot had no face, no eyes, nothing. There was no give-away, just an odd feeling.

No, he was making this about himself. Sans was just seeing things, imagining things that weren’t real.

And true to that, the moment passed within a blink of an eye and a robotic, metallic voice could be heard saying, “welllll look at all those beautiful and handsome monsters that decided to show up tonight!”

He was rolling over the stage, microphone in his hands so his voice could be heard over the roaring crowd.

“You wouldn’t know how flattered I feel,” the robot went on to coo, voice thick and drawn out. “You’re all making me blush~ Now… who’s ready for some _Mettaton?_ ”  
The crowd reacted to the words like a chemical reaction, cheers and hoots roaring up in excitement, deafeningly loud. Though the robot didn’t flinch for a moment, seemingly basking in the attention.

“Well who am I to let you wait!” The robot complained, his voice about as thrilled now as any of the monsters seemed to be. And he stayed true to his word, music playing only moments later as the show _started._

No one knew what Mettaton’s whole thing was. Apparently music-y. But what type? What genre? Sans couldn’t say he was any smarter throughout the development of the concert. Or maybe he was, but the answer was just so completely different from what he expected.

Metaton did… well. Almost _everything._ From sappy ballads to hard metal, pun intended. There were parts where he mixed in country, sometimes pop, techno and even electro swing. He mixed genres, seemingly made new ones.

And singing, music wasn’t the only thing he did, _show_ was another big part of it. Building up his stage in record time, giving illusions, play, keeping you unable to look away from the stage for even a second. The light show was nothing compared to what Mettaton single handedly showed off on stage.

He might not look flashy at first. Might not have the best, most comforting singing voice, with his robotic, metallic undertone. But he was an entertainment robot, all right. And Sans was entertained.

He had _not_ expected to get into this, not for a moment, but as much as concerts weren’t Sans thing. This? This was incredibly entrancing. And a part of Sans wondered if there was some kind of hypnotic magic at work, but he was too distracted to care too much at the moment.

Mettaton was damn good at what he was doing and hypnotic magic or not, Sans had damn respect of that guy all of the sudden.

After an hour or so of performing the wildest, most varying songs, the robot announced a break of thirty minutes. The crowd dispersed a little, getting snacks or drinks. While the music stopped, it still got louder, hundreds – if not thousands – of monsters starting back up with their chatter.

Papyrus had let Sans off his shoulders at this point, Papyrus ordering himself what he knew was _not_ going to be alcoholic, while Sans waited with his cup of beer he already got. It seemed a lot nicer than it had before the show suddenly. Less suffocatingly crowded and more acceptably crowded. Maybe because now people weren’t all wondering what it’s gonna be like and discussing it anymore. Or maybe just because after a while a concert got exhausting, even if you were just the audience. Or maybe that was just Sans.

He almost jerked a little when he felt a hand tapping on his shoulder, feeling a rush of panic _wanting_ to come up. No, he was safe. Papyrus was here. He was surrounded by monsters. No one would harm him here. He was safe.

Sans turned around, looking up – and up – at the monster’s face. Or lack thereof, as their head turned out to simply be a… very large hand? They were tall and blue, dressed up in a nice suit.

“Mettaton said to invite you to his backroom,” the monster announced, Sans’ eyes widening in surprise.

“he has _what?_ ”  
“HE HAS???” Papyrus asked as well, suddenly standing next to his brother, his hand clutching around Sans’ shoulder as his voice rose in excitement. “BUT WHY???”  
“yea. why?”  
“Sorry, but I do not know either.” The hand monster informed them. “Should I let him know you’re not planning to come?”  
“yes.”  
“NO!”  
Well. That was awkward.

“WHY WOULD WE TURN HIM DOWN???” Papyrus asked, more genuinely confused and surprised than upset. “DO YOU NOT WANT TO SEE HIM???”  
“’s not that, just… doesn’t that seem fishy? that ‘e wants to see _us?_ ” Sans questioned, quirking a brow at Papyrus. The taller skeleton began humming thoughtfully, a hand placed on his chin to pronounce the effect of ‘thinking hard.’  
“HMMM. I DO SEE YOUR POINT, BUT I RAISE YOU THIS: WHAT’S THE WORST THAT CAN HAPPEN???” Papyrus said, not actually waiting for Sans to response to that. “MAYBE HE IS JUST A COOL GUY AND WANTS TO MEET HIS NEW BIGGEST FANS!!! OR MAYBE HE IS A RUDE MONSTER AND WILL TRY TO SCAM US UNSUCCESSFULLY. EITHER WAY, NEITHER OF US WILL BE ABLE TO STOP WONDERING WHY HE INVITED US IN, IF WE DON’T GO AND FIND OUT NOW.”

“damn,” Sans replied, letting out an impressed whistle. “i hadn’t even thought that far.” He had just thought about how _odd_ it seemed, and how he felt like the robot was _looking_ at him earlier… “a’right, you’re right. let’s go.”

Papyrus let out an excited victory cheer, before the hand monster began leading them backstage, both skeletons following closely. They knocked the metal door twice, opening it for Sans and Papyrus once they heard a, “come in,” from inside the backroom.  
“I’ll be waiting outside,” the hand monster informed them, nodding after Sans and Papyrus as they entered the backroom, door closing behind them.

“So nice of you to show up!” The robot singsonged as soon as they were in. “Come in, come in! Sit down.”

The robot was sitting on a bean chair, motioning the brothers to sit on a small couch across from him and they did. The backroom wasn’t all that big or fancy. There were several costumes and outfits on display, a table between them with fruits, a few small shelves. But it did look comfortable and so was the couch.

“THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR INVITING US IN, MR. METTATON!!!” Papyrus hollered out immediately. “I LOVED YOUR SHOW SO MUCH SO FAR!!!”

The robot seemed to sparkle at that, hands clapping together in front of the LED screen that seemed to replace his face.

“Oh darling! You don’t know how happy that makes me!” Mettaton cooed, before lowering his hands again. “And please! Just Mettaton is fine.”  
“why’d ya invite us here?” Sans asked, deciding to quickly cut to the chase. The chit chat was just making him more nervous. Though he did get a disgruntled noise from Papyrus.

“SANS PLEASE, BE MORE POLITE!”

“Oh, no, no, it’s quite alright,” Mettaton assured them quickly. “I’m sure it comes off as odd inviting you two in. I was simply surprised to see skeleton monsters at my concert, there aren’t a lot of those around anymore! Didn’t want to miss my chance to get to know two.”  
Well… that _did_ kind of make sense. Ever since they got locked down in the underground, skeleton monsters had been cut down to maybe ten or twenty of their kind. Which was _incredibly_ low.

“’kay. alright. fair enough,” Sans decided, giving the robot a shrug, followed by a more relaxed smile as he held his hand out. “name’s sans. tha’s my bro papyrus.”

Mettaton seemed to straighten at that name, the two colors of LEDs creating a shape of an exclamation mark. Huh. That was an odd trait.

“ _Sans?_ ” He repeated, like he had heard the name before. “Say, you’re not friends with the royal scientist Dr. Alphys by any chance?”  
“alphys is… no, nah,” Sans replied, shaking his head no. “acquaintances at best. haven’t talked since i ditched the lab job.”  
“Oh, but she did talk _about_ you!” Mettaton assured him. “Alphys and I are _very_ close. She _built_ me!”  
“SANS, YOU NEVER TOLD ME YOU WERE FRIENDS WITH THE ROYAL SCIENTIST!!!” Papyrus chimed in, sounding surprised and excited. “YOU SHOULD VISIT HERE!”  
“You should, darling, you should!”  
Having two monsters talk in on him on that matter almost had Sans feeling cornered and trapped. But he kept relaxed, giving them a shrug of his shoulders.

“told’cha we’ve never been that close,” he simply argued, though maybe bending words to his purpose a little. “maybe some time, though.”  
Before either of them could push the topic more, there was a knock heard from the door, followed by a voice. “The concert continues in less than ten minutes, Mettaton.”

Mettaton seemed to perk up again, quickly getting off the bean chair.

“Oh dear, I barely noticed the time! I am so sorry to cut this short, darlings, but I do have to prepare.”  
“THAT IS QUITE ALRIGHT!!!” Papyrus assured him, also getting up, with Sans following quickly behind. “I AM VERY EXCITED FOR THE SECOND PART OF YOUR CONCERT!”  
“Ohhh, you should be,” the robot singsonged back in a playful voice. “Feel free to add me on the Undernet, darlings! This way we can keep in touch. It was so nice getting to meet the both of you! Bye Papyrus, bye Sansy~”  
They were already leaving. They were halfway through the door. But Sans froze up, the moment he heard the robot call out his name.

It sounded… _familiar._ Why did it seem so _familiar?_ He couldn’t put a finger on it. He’s never met Mettaton before, and it wasn’t like ‘Sansy’ was a new one, was that much of a _unique_ nickname for him. So why did it strike him as so _familiar?_

“ARE YOU COMING?” Papyrus asked, dragging Sans out of his thoughts. He looked up at his brother, before nodding and finally leaving the backroom as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again *wink* dont forget to *wink wink* check out my [fic tumblr](http://perhapshomo.tumblr.com/) *wink* you might find something you like *wink wink wink*


	10. A dazzling Bowl of Spagh’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its oversharing time  
> i was at the hospital yesterday (for the first time, at least for the first time non-visiting) bc of horrible pain in my left side. im speaking pain SO BAD that when i tried to move i heaved up and tried to vomit (but i couldnt even eat anything all day so all that came up was spit and acid). i spent my entire day at the hospital just to find out that they dont rly know what to do with me.  
> might be kidney stones. might also be just my kidney dropping like a dead flower. or really weirdly located period cramps that came a day early (in which case i am officially canceling periodes bc that pain was so bad I COULDNT MOVE WITHOUT VOMITING)  
> anyway the doc prescribed me some meds & beer so now im drinking beer
> 
> i also ordered two gay pride bowties and they're coming from great britian + 1-3 workdays to make them but im PRAYING that they'll arrive before the 13th so i can show up to my graduation party gay

“Heard you went to the concert?”  
“yep. paps took me there.”  
“So. How was it?” There was a hint in Doggo’s voice like he was teasing him a bit, Sans not being the type to be interested in anything music-y like that. But he still did that little tilt with his head, that little tilt to listen closer, curiously. Dogs were easy to read.

“loud,” Sans replied with a chuckle. “nah, though, was pretty nice i guess. fun.”  
“Hah! Didn’t think you’d be into that!” Doggo replied surprised, but positively so. “Hey, concert aside. Haven’t seen ya at the bar in a while.”  
See. Conversations like this immediately were a lot less fun than the concert.

“yea, uh. got pretty drunk the other night,” Sans lied easily. “i guess i wanna cut back? also spend some more time with my bro.”  
“Oh?” Doggo asked, and there was a hint of disappointment underneath his surprise. “So… We won’t see you for poker night anymore?”  
“eh. y’ will. just not right now,” Sans replied, giving him an easy shrug. “’s not like i put the bar on my blacklist. just takin’ a break.”  
Though he figured it wasn’t exactly a break from the _bar._ Or drinking. He just still didn’t feel like seeing Grillby again. Even if he felt better after the concert. Even if he was able to leave the house again, able to get groceries, to hold conversations. Grillby was something he didn’t _want_ to breach right now. Able to? Maybe. Probably not though. But most importantly, he didn’t _want_ to. He was scared things would spiral ways they shouldn’t.

He was scared he still was the fool he had been as a child.

“anyway. better be headin’ home,” Sans finally said. Doggo had caught him up halfway on his way there anyway. “pap’s makin’ spagh’. don’ wanna make him wait.”  
“Alright, tell your mommy I said ‘hi’,” Doggo quipped, getting a sarcastic laugh back from Sans.

“thanks, mom’ll be so glad to hear it.” He didn’t wait for a follow up, instead simply going ahead to leave, giving Doggo a last wave. The dog seemed just fine with that as well.

 

There was a familiar robotic voice to be heard when Sans finally entered their house. Several different kinds of shows of the robot had started coming on TV ever since the concert. Those varied about as much as the music genres did, from dramas to news reports to comedies to sports games in which a team full of Mettatons played against another team full of Mettatons. It usually ended in a tie.

There were noises from Papyrus coming from the kitchen, though, while the TV was in the living room. Had he left it running by accident? That was odd, Papyrus usually didn’t do that.

Sans went to the living room to quickly turn the TV off, already picking up the remote from their old couch and pointing it at the TV. Only to freeze up surprised.

The TV wasn’t on. But he could _still_ hear the robotic voice. And Sans was almost embarrassed it took him this long to figure it out. But when he did, he _dashed_ to the kitchen, stopping at the door frame to freeze up once more.

“Sansy, darling!” Mettaton singsonged chipper. He was sitting at the end of the table across from where Sans stood, Papyrus between them at the stove.

“SANS!!! YOU’RE HOME! FINALLY! DID YOU GET THOSE TOMATOES I NEEDED???”  
“uh… yea...” Sans muttered absently, handing Papyrus the grocery bag. “um… hi? why ‘xactly are you here?”

“Well that’s a nice way to greet a friend!” Mettaton chided, though his tone was lighthearted and soft.

Papyrus’ gasp however wasn’t. “SANS!!! DON’T BE SO RUDE TO OUR GUEST!”  
Sans’ eyes widened, he quickly raised his hands to his chest, shaking his head. “no, no, ‘s not what i meant!” He assured them. “just. didn’t expect a celebrity in my kitchen.”  
“Oh, I know honey, I know,” Mettaton chirped with a chuckle, the small shifting of his body implying he was crossing his legs under the kitchen table, _somehow,_ despite not having legs. “Papyrus invited me over.”  
“...oh?”  
“METTATON AND I HAVE BEEN WRITING ON THE UNDERNET!!!” Sans’ little brother informed him. “WE’RE FRIENDS!”  
“oh,” Sans said once more, still surprised, though… things started to make more sense now. Mettaton _had_ offered them to write him on the Undernet. Sans simply hadn’t exactly… taken it serious. That guy was _built_ to be a celebrity and was rapidly growing in popularity. Sans on the other hand hasn’t showered in a week.

“i… well...” Sans was rubbing the back of his skull awkwardly, slowly walking up to sit down at the table, across from Mettaton. “...now i feel kind of like a dick.”  
“It’s all right, darling,” the robot assured him, leaning with his elbow on the table slightly, chin resting on his hand. “I was a bit disappointed you never wrote me on the Undernet. I had hoped we could be friends as well.”  
“NO BETTER WAY TO START ONE THAN OVER A PLATE OF SPAGHETTI!!!” Papyrus announced excitedly, before turning to hand them both a plate of spaghetti. The noodles were actually cooked, though the sauce seemed kind of watery and the meat was partially barely cooked and partially burnt to crisps. Sans knew that, if he’d ask Papyrus about it, he’d tell him it was to keep a balance.

“Indeed, indeed,” Mettaton hummed, his voice sounding completely content, despite the dish presented before him. Oh well. Sans doubted the robot could actually eat, given he had no mouth. And it wasn’t a problem for Sans either. A tongue was as easy to dissolve as it was to summon in the first place.

“Say, Sansy, I’ve heard you’re looking for a job?”  
Sans quirked a brow, first at Mettaton, then at Papyrus, the latter looking quite nervous. Until he broke. “I’M SORRY BROTHER!!! I TATTLED!”  
Mettaton and Sans both let out a surprised, small laugh at that reaction.

“nah, ‘s cool pap. yea ‘m lookin’ for a job. why, you’ve got something to offer?” This time when Sans quirked a brow at Mettaton it was in curiosity. Finding jobs that _didn’t_ make Sans want to groan for the next ten years hadn’t exactly been a success so far. But maybe the robot _did_ have something useful to offer…?

“I do actually,” Mettaton hummed confirming. “Papsi told me quite a bit about you, your qualities. I think I can get you a permanent gig at my resort as comedian.”  
“aha, aha,” Sans muttered curiously, the words taking a bit before they quite settled in. Before Sans’ eyes widened surprised. “a _what? where!?_ ”  
Mettaton was chuckling amused, clearly having expected the reaction, yet still loving it. “My resort, hun. It’s planned to open next month and I am looking for entertainers for it.”

He reached into his little bag he had lying next to the chair he was on, handing Sans a plastic folder. “This is a temporary contract. I’d like to see a few of your performances first, as well as the audience’s reaction and for you if it’s what you imagined it to be, before we can talk about a permanent one.” Sans’ mind was reeling, struggling to keep up with taking in all of the words the robot was telling him, while he was eyeing over the contract suddenly in his hands. The contract for a _job_. As a _comedian._ At a brand new _resort_. Owned by the brand new _celebrity robot._ Which was built by the _royal scientist._

“i don’t know what to say...”  
“That is quite alright, darling,” Mettaton hummed understandingly. “Just sign the contract if you’re interested.”  
“i, uh...” Sans was looking through the pages, more skimming over them to see how much it was to read, rather than to actually read them. “i’d like to read over it first, alone later? and think about it...”  
“Of course, of course! That’s what I hoped to hear,” the robot assured him. “If you made your decision you can send the contract to Dr. Alphys!”  
“AREN’T YOU EXCITED, BROTHER???” Papyrus cheered in his ever-so-happy voice. “THIS IS SUCH AN AMAZING OPPORTUNITY!!! A COMEDY GIG, JUST LIKE YOU WANTED! _WITH_ METTATON!”

It was, indeed, amazing. Almost to a point that Sans couldn’t quite believe it was real. But the contract was there in his hands, and Mettaton hasn’t shown a single bit of malice or bad intent so far… Of course he was going to read through the contract with utmost precision, unwilling to miss even the most hidden catch, but… right now it sounded like a dream come true.

“it _is,_ ” Sans finally breathed out. “really. wow. thank you...”  
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” the robot chuckled, though you could hear in his voice that he loved the attention.  
“NO, REALLY!!! I THANK YOU, TOO!”

“Now, now, Papsi, I should be thanking _you._ You’re being such a sweet host, and that pasta looks absolutely dazzling.”  
Papyrus gasped surprised, hands clapped together in front of his face, touched. “YOU MEAN IT??? I THOUGHT YOU WOULD THINK IT WAS GROSS! I DIDN’T EVEN THINK YOU COULD EAT IT!”  
“Oh, I can’t darling,” Mettaton confirmed him that. “But I _love_ your style. The way you coated the noodles in glitter? Absolutely stunning! A work of art!”  
“THAT’S WHAT I ALWAYS TRY TO TELL PEOPLE!!!” Papyrus agreed excitedly, absolutely ecstatic about finally having found someone – aside from Sans who usually just went along his stride – who agreed with him on his cooking methods.

Mettaton actually seemed like a genuinely good guy, which… made Sans feel oddly happy.

 

The next three days were spent contemplating his decision. Papyrus was pretty much useless in that situation, since he was one-hundred percent into the idea of Sans working for Mettaton, couldn’t even understand why Sans hasn’t accepted right away, though he respected it.

Sans had to admit, though, it seemed like a pretty good deal. He’d have to hold small stand-up comedy acts of five to ten minutes a few times a week, which didn’t _sound_ like a lot at first, but thinking about it a bit longer Sans started to realize that with having never actually _done_ that kind of thing before, as well at this time didn’t include the actual writing or practicing of Sans’ routines at all. It might actually become a challenge. Though the pay _did_ kind of make up for it, being pretty damn nice.

Oh fuck it. “alright. i’ll do it.”  
“YOU WILL???” Papyrus asked, letting out an excited gasp. He had been shadowing Sans for the past ten or twenty minutes as he had been studying the contract once more.

“i ‘dunno if i’m actually qualified enough for this,” Sans admitted, still musing over it. “but i guess it’s worth a try.”  
“THAT’S THE SPIRIT!!!” His brother agreed cheerfully, letting out a small excited squeal as Sans picked up a pen to sign it. “SO… WHEN ARE YOU PLANNING TO BRING THE DOCUMENTS OVER???”  
Sans blinked a bit surprised at the question. “uh. was gonna send them per mail,” he admitted.

“NO!!! NO, NO, YOU CAN _NOT_ DO THAT,” Papyrus chided, shaking his head as he crossed his arm, almost seeming disappointed in his brother for even suggesting that. “YOU HAVE TO CATCH UP WITH YOUR DEAR FRIEND DR. ALPHYS!”

“she’s not really a friend...”  
“AND MAYBE METTATON CAN SHOW YOU THE RESORT!” The younger brother went on, simply ignoring Sans. “YOU _DO_ HAVE TO SEE IT BEFORE YOU CAN TELEPORT THERE. IT’S THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY!!!”

“...i _guess_ you’ve got a poi-”  
“GREAT! LET’S GO THEN!” Papyrus said excitedly, already picking Sans up and dashing out of the house, picking up Sans’ shoes on the way. Oh. So _that’s_ why Papyrus hadn’t taken his boots off after he came home today and saw Sans reading the documents.

“ _paps,_ we don’ even know if he’s ther- oh you’re texting him.” Papyrus was dashing towards the river connection, switching between looking on the phone in his hands to text Mettaton and looking ahead to not run into anyone. Well. Looks like Papyrus was dead set on this. And Sans couldn’t bring himself to stop him. He seemed too excited about this, already sitting Sans down in the River Person’s boat, handing him his shoes.

“COULD YOU BRING US TO HOTLAND, PLEASE???” Papyrus asked the cloaked person as he sat down in the boat next to his brother.

“Tra la la… Of course, my friends,” the monster spoke, making sure the two were seated, before heading off… into the opposite direction of Hotland.

Though neither of the monsters were surprised or bothered to correct them. The River Person knew what they were doing. Sans and Papyrus sure didn’t, but they knew River Person did. It had something to do with their magic.

Sans had asked them about it some time, had asked if it was some kind of teleportation magic, which it wasn’t. It was more of a spiritual connection to the river itself. A bit like an elemental’s connection to their element – fire monsters weren’t just monsters made out of fire, they _are_ fire. River Person _is_ the river, letting them see who’s at their river stations at any point at the same time, able to ‘appear’ there.

Was the monster they were seeing right now even their actual form? Or was it just some kind of hologram, an illusion, and the monster itself was of no shape visible to the eye.

Oh, who was he kidding, Sans knew it was the latter.

They let them arrive at their desired destination in record time, and Sans doubted that was a case of them having a very fast boat. There was _something_ they did with their spiritual river connection that made them able to… _change_ where they were.

“thanks for the ride,” Sans said casually.

“YES!!! THANK YOU A LOT! IS THERE ANY WAY WE CAN REPAY YOU???”  
They both knew the River Person didn’t accept any gold payment, they said they didn’t need or want it. But Papyrus would still always insist on asking any way.

And for the first time, River Person hesitated in calling them off.

“Tra la la… There is one way you might pay me back,” they hummed, Papyrus’ eyes sparkling in excitement as Sans’ brow quirked curiously. “Share with me a wisdom of your own.”  
“OH!!! OKAY! I’VE GOT THIS! YOU- UH… HM...” Papyrus paused, a hand to his chin as he tried to think of a wisdom. “SANS… DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING???”

Sans was trying to think of something as well, hands buried in his pockets. He straightened, letting out a small gasp as he got one.

“always eat a hotdog every day,” he said, getting a frustrated grunt from Papyrus.

“THAT IS A HORRIBLE WISDOM!!! THAT’S SO UNHEALTHY!”

River Person, however, seemed intrigued. “...And why, if I may ask?”  
Now Sans couldn’t help himself but to grin widely. “’cause then i know y’re listenin’ to me!” He said proudly, his voice having that kind of tone like he just delivered a punchline. And also got a groan back from Papyrus like he just delivered a punchline.

River Person seemed to need a moment before it clicked, before letting out a small laugh. “That is a very valuable wisdom. I might make it my own...”  
“heh, feel free to,” Sans replied. “was my payment after all! see ya, river.”  
“TAKE CARE!!!” Papyrus chirped after them as well, getting a nod from the River Person, before the two of them started heading towards the royal scientist’s laboratory.

It’s been a while since Sans has seen Alphys, but he’s _never_ seen the actual royal scientist’s lab before. It didn’t look particularly impressive – or big for that matter – but Sans didn’t doubt that it was sufficient for whatever a royal scientist did.

“I CAN’T BELIEVE WE’RE ACTUALLY VISITING METTATON!!!” Papyrus said, almost squealing excitedly as he hopped from one leg to the other. “ _AND_ MEETING THE ROYAL SCIENTIST!!! OH NO!!! SANS, DO I LOOK GOOD??? I HAVEN’T ACTUALLY PREPARED AT ALL!!!”

“y’ look fine, paps,” Sans assured him casually.

“BUT WHAT ABOUT YOU??? HAVE YOU EVEN SHOWERED??? OH, WHAT IF I WAS BEING TOO HASTY AND THE ROYAL SCIENTIST WILL THINK-”  
“chill, paps,” Sans stopped him, still calm and casual, already knocking at the metallic doors. “if she’s anythin’ like back when, she’s real swee-”  
“-I-I-I-I’ve _told_ you no-not to in-in-invite s-strangers- Oh!”  
“Sansy! Papsi! Darlings, how good to see you!” The robot wrapped them both up in a big hug, almost the second the doors slid open, his hose-like arms extending to reach around both of them. “Please, do come in!”

“OH, I HOPE WE DIDN’T COME AT THE WRONG TIME...” Papyrus muttered a bit guiltily, but he did take up on Mettaton’s invitation, stepping inside once the robot let go of them, the doors sliding shut behind them once Sans stepped in as well.

“No, no, it’s quite all right,” Mettaton assured him quickly. “Alphys is just skittish around people. Isn’t that right, Alphy?”  
“Don’t t-t-treat me like a p-pet, Mettaton,” the short, yellow lizard monster complained. She was wearing an oversized lab coat, arms crossed and frowning towards the robot. But as soon as Sans glanced to her and she noticed, she glanced away, seeming nervous and anxious all of the sudden.

Yep. That was Alphys.

“hey alph, long time no see,” Sans tried casually. “or is it doc now?”  
“A-A-Alphys is fine...”  
“IT IS SUCH AN HONOR TO MEET YOU, DR. ALPHYS!!!” Papyrus quickly chimed in. He was already dashing towards the scientist, taking one of her small, clawed hands and shaking it firmly. “I AM PAPYRUS!!! SANS’ VERY GREAT AND VERY HANDSOME BROTHER!”

“A-Ah! I-It’s still just Alphys…,” she argued with a _very_ small voice, her eyes big as she looked up and up at the tall monster.

Papyrus gave her an excited nod and apologized, before letting go of her hands again. “I AM SURE YOU WILL WANT SOME TIME TO CATCH UP WITH YOUR OLD FRIEND, MY BROTHER!!!” He said, before leaving the two to it, sliding up to Mettaton instead. What a fanboy.

“H-H-He is… loud...”  
“he’s great.”  
“T-Tall...”  
“and every inch filled with greatness.” Sans finished up with a content nod. “so, alph. how’s it been?”  
“W-W-Well, t-t-there’s been a l-l-lot of pressure since I beca-came royal scientist...” She muttered quietly. “Bu-but the king is very-y understanding. H-H-How about y-you? I haven’t he-heard about y-y-you since you qu-quit your job!”  
“yea. been severely depressed, couldn’t leave my house or anythin’,” Sans said, his tone as casual as ever, like he was discussing the weather. “pap’s been tryin’ to help me best he can. moved to snowdin, met my ex.”

“O-Oh no!”  
“oh no indeed.” Sans huffed, but he shook his head with a small chuckle. “nah, ‘m good, though. metta’s offered me a gig which i’m actually pretty excited about. ‘s been a while. t’ feel like there’s something looking forward to...” He blinked, remembering he was quite literally pouring his heart out to the scientist he hadn’t seen in _years._ “sorry… got carried away.”  
“N-No, it’s alright!” Alphys replied quickly. “I-I-I understand! I’m not goo-good at staying in to-touch either! W-We’re still friends, though… right?”  
_They were?_

Sans had never thought they were. Had never thought Alphys even still wanted him in his life anymore. They might not have been the closest friends, the kind to meet in their free time to relax and have fun. But Sans had always had problems and Alphys had her own fair share of problems and they… _bonded_ over having someone to just _rant_ to about them. Someone who wouldn’t judge them, or just dismiss them by telling them to get help.

He thought she would feel betrayed after Sans just left with no warning, no goodbye, and never contacted her again.

“...yea,” Sans replied though. “’course. an’ i’ll try to keep in touch more this time.”  
“I-I-I think I’d li-like that!” The lizard monster replied, before she took a small step back as Mettaton rolled up to the two of them, Papyrus following up quickly.

“Sooo, I’ve heard you made a decision?”

“yep,” Sans replied, digging the folder out from his hoodie and handing it towards the robot. “i’ll take the job.”  
_Somehow,_ despite neither having to breath nor having lungs – though really, Sans was just being hypocritical here – the robot gasped, hands clapping together in front of his LED screen.  
“Marvelous!” He cheered excitedly. “Absolutely marvelous! So, Sansy, are you ready for a tour through the grand MTT resort? A little bird told me you were looking for one.”  
Papyrus, standing behind the robot, nodded towards Sans enthusiastically, mouthing, ‘SAY YES,’ towards his older brother.

“sure,” Sans replied with a shrug. “count me in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 


	11. Sit-Down Comedian

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my weird (kidney?) pain started again today, but much smaller, so its okay...? im just hoping i can go to my graduation party on the 13th, ive been preparing a HUGE My Hero Academia inspired powerpoint for a splatoon tournament we're holding there
> 
> anyways, chapter! enjoy!!

“IT IS… VERY HOT HERE.”

“I’m surprised,” Mettaton hummed curious. “I would’ve thought you skeletons don’t feel temperature.”

Sans gave him an affirmative hum, but went on to elaborate. “we don’t the way you do. or, uh. other monsters at least. but we still feel it, kinda… muffled, i guess?”  
“WE DO FEEL THE EFFECTS OF IT! WE SWEAT AND FROST HURTS ON THE BONES,” Papyrus went on. “BUT I COULD HOLD MY HAND INTO FIRE WITHOUT HURTING MYSELF! IS… IS IT STILL FAR UNTIL WE’RE AT THE RESORT???”

Sans let out a small, sympathetic chuckle. It wasn’t hard to tell that Papyrus was trying his best not to go on a complaining fit about their location, but he seemed to despise this place more every second they spent here. From the suffocating heat, to the inconvenience of using steam vents to get over the cliffs. It didn’t help that the elevators only reached so far, and they had to walk the rest of the way to the resort.

Papyrus looked very uncomfortable in his sweat sticky clothes.

“Soon, darling, soon,” Mettaton assured him, his voice gentle and patient. “And do not worry, by the time the resort opens, there will be a functioning elevator set up close to it.”  
“OH THANK GOD!!!” Papyrus gasped out, eyes widening embarrassed once he realized how desperately relieved that sounded. But neither Sans nor Mettaton minded, both of them just letting out a good laugh.

“’s all good, bro. look, i can already see it in the distance.”

“Oh indeed, darling!” Mettaton chortled, before already rushing ahead, only stopping when he was in front of the building, hands pointing towards it in a presentating manner. The act had Papyrus cackling excitedly, running after him, Sans following up at his regular speed. But he did turn to face the building once he reached them.

Since the area chosen was farther off the lava pits of Hotland, the cave was naturally darker, giving the stone of the tall building a bluish hue. But the light coming from the windows was a bright, warm yellow, giving an inviting vibe.

“Care to take a look inside?”  
“OH PLEASE!!!” Papyrus immediately replied, “YES!!!”  
Mettaton let out a soft laugh, going ahead and waving a hand after them to motion them to follow as he unlocked the door with a key card. Which they both did.

The resort was empty of monsters, seeming almost abandoned. Only after close inspection did Sans notice someone working at the far back of what looked like a fast food stand, labeled as MTT Burger Emporium. Aside from that there seemed to be another elevator, a check-in counter, two hallways leading off, as well as a big fountain in the center of the building, not yet quite filled with water. What was, despite of the fountain’s centered position, the most eye catching to Sans was another hallway, though, labeled in big neon letters to lead to the Core.

Huh. He _had_ known there was an empty building close to the Core, but Sans was curious why this location specifically had been chosen.  
“’s it safe to add access to the core like that?” Sans questioned, more curious than accusing in any way. Mettaton seemed immediately delighted to get questions, though, nodding happily.

“Why, of course it is!” He assured them. “As of the moment access is only for permitted monsters, of course, but we’re working on creating a safe path through the Core for curious tourists! It all adds to the attraction.”  
Huh, Sans would’ve never thought of it like that, but he guessed there were quite a few monsters that would be curious to see the mysterious construction providing them with power.

“Soo, what do you say?” Mettaton quickly continued, already taking Sans and Papyrus by their hands, dragging them with him. “Want me to show you the rooms?”

“OH, YES PLEASE!!!” Papyrus cheered excitedly while Sans let out a surprised, slightly skeptic hum.  
“shouldn’t you rather be showin’ me where i’ll perform?”

“All in due time, Sansy, do not worry!” The robot simply hummed. “Plus, you _do_ get to stay in one of the rooms during your work times, so you might as well get accustomed to them now~”

“fair enough,” Sans replied with a shrug, simply following up with the two very excited monsters.

Mettaton lead them to one of the hallways, doors to rooms rowed up on each side. He unlocked one of them with his key card, opening the door to an inviting, warm looking room.

Most of it’s space was made up by the large, probably king sized bed, with small drawers to it’s left and right. The walls were decorated with paintings of Mettaton and even the lamps on the drawers looked like the robot. It definitely seemed comfortable, despite the rather narcissistic display.

Without further ado, Mettaton threw himself on the large bed, arms open in invitation. An invitation Papyrus took up quickly, throwing himself onto the mattress with an excited, happy cackle, landing next to the robot.

“WOWIE!!! IT IS SO SOFT!!!” The large skeleton swooned. “COME ON, SANS! JOIN US!!!”

Well. _He_ didn’t need to be told twice, though Sans put a lot less show into throwing himself onto the bed, and instead just walked to it’s edge, where he kind of just… flopped down, lying with his upper body on it, face buried into the blanket.

Damn. It really _was_ soft. He felt like he could melt right into the bedding.

“It’s good to hear they’re comfortable!” Mettaton chortled satisfied. “Aaand, the walls are soundproof, so you can be as loud as you wish in case you’ll ever end up here with someone special~” The way Mettaton was leering at Sans almost had the skeleton feeling like he was implying something, but really, that couldn’t be the case, right?  
Sans decided it couldn’t, only letting out a surprised laugh as a reaction, while Papyrus didn’t seem to have noticed the comment at all. Or maybe he has and what ignoring it on purpose, instead having gotten off the bed and rummaging through a little side room, which appeared to be a bathroom.

“ARE THOSE-! OH MY GOSH!!!” He came dashing out of the bathroom again, holding a small bar of Mettaton shaped soap in his hands. “THESE ARE TOO CUTE!!! IS THERE ANY PLACE I CAN BUY THEM???”

Mettaton let out a surprised chuckle, leaning up on the bed. “Oh darling, please! Keep it!” He insisted immediately. “We’ve got those in stock in masses, really! There’s no hard in you taking one or two.”  
“OH!!! WELL IF YOU INSIST!!!” There really was no hesitation in Papyrus voice at the free offer, and he was already wrapping the soap up in a small handkerchief. “THANK YOU SO MUCH!”

“You’re very welcome, darling!”

He ended up showing them the restaurant next. It was, so far, the fanciest area of the resort, the room covered in hues or dark, soft blues and purples, dark green ficuses decorating the walls. Though Mettaton still managed to keep up his trend of self promoting in form of table cloth designed after Mettaton.

Aside from the fancy attire, there was also a stage in the restaurant, where Sans would eventually have to perform. There was a backroom leading to and from it, in which Sans could spend his time before his performances and prepare. Though, and Mettaton made a point to point that out again, he would also have a room for himself to do so.

They didn’t end up walking back, as Papyrus was not so subtly hinting on how Sans should teleport them rather, to ‘test if this was a safe distance.’ So he did, both Sans and Mettaton knowing that Papyrus seemed to not be a fan of Hotland.

 

The grand opening of the MTT resort happened sooner than expected. Sans had spent most of his free time since trying to write his sketch for the stand-up gig. Maybe he didn’t exactly need _all_ of this time to do so. Maybe avoiding going out, avoiding going to Grillby’s played a factor in it.

But he was _doing_ something and he was trying to do it not bad.

Sans had a hard time wrapping his mind around what to… _do_ for his act. His sketch. Whatever. Puns were his usual go-to thing, but he felt like pulling puns five minutes straight would get… old within the first ten seconds. They were good when they came unexpected, puns depended on the situation, they could only hardly be forced.  
Of course he was still throwing some puns in. But the majority of it turned into Sans using this gig as a free way to make fun of himself, of his own past.

And then suddenly he was _there._ In the MTT resort, sitting on a beanbag in the backroom of the stage. There were obviously a good few monsters in the restaurant, Sans could hear their voices even through the jazz music of the band that was currently playing. But it made sense, too, considering this was the grand opening.

It didn’t take long for Mettaton to saunter into the backroom as well, taking a seat across from Sans. “Nervous?” He asked, his voice soft and quiet, almost like he would be disturbing the band currently playing if he spoke louder.

Sans gave him an honest shrug. “not so much nervous as i’m just worried ‘m not funny enough,” he admitted, getting a curious hum from the robot. “might’ve chosen the wrong guy for this.”  
“I don’t think I have,” Mettaton disagreed. “You’ve got exactly the right kind of confidence to sell yourself, Sansy.”  
“confidence?” Sans repeated surprised, quirking a brow at Mettaton, only to get a nod back.

“It’s not hard to convince the audience you’re good at what you’re doing as long as _you_ seem convinced of that. After all, you’re supposed to be the professional at this, aren’t you? And who most likely will know better, the audience or the professional.”  
“that’s an odd way of taking it.”  
“It’s show business, darling,” Mettaton replied, with a small melody in his voice.

They didn’t exactly have a lot of time to continue their conversation after this, the jazz music getting to an end. Sans could overhear the announcer announcing his stand-up act next, while three monsters – one that seemed to be just a floating fox head, a reptile monster, and a gas monster – filed into the backroom, carrying cases with their instrument.

“Good luck out there, champ,” the robot said after the skeleton already heading to the stage, before approaching the small group of jazz players himself.

Hoh boy.

He might need that luck.

With a small fold up chair under his arms, Sans made his way onto the stage casually, not hurrying himself at all as he placed his chair next to the microphone stand, sitting down and picking the microphone up.

“...yea, i don’ know, but i think there’s been an error in the announcement. there’s no way i’m gonna stand up during this,” Sans spoke into the mike in his hands, keeping his voice as casual as ever.

He didn’t expect anything from that simple line, so when he actually got a small round of laughter, he was more than a little surprised. Alright. Alright. Things were going. _Somewhere._

“hah. didn’t expect that one to get such a skele-ton of y’all to laugh,” he admitted with his own small chuckle, gaining even more laughs from the audience. Sans actually slipped a smile at this point. One that was more than just his casual grin, an actual relieved smile. Maybe he could do this.

“we’ve all been kids, right?” Sans started right off the bat. “at least i hope so. don’t think any a y’all popped out of your mom growing facial hair and doing taxes.”

At this point the laughter actually felt like praise, making Sans feel… good. Proud? Like he was actually good at something.

“so i had this friend as a kid, lets call him meth, not because of the drug but for anonymity. though also because of the drug. he did a lot of drugs. so i was a kid, i was like this baby at fifteen years, and meth calls me up asking if i wanna hang out – at four in the morning. i sneaked out of my room – you know, like in those movies, where the white bad boy sneaks out of his house and all the cute girls swoon over him, except i was a damn baby and no girl ever was even interested in me.”

He gave it a pause as the audience reacted in laughter, waiting for them to calm down, his own smile hard to hide at this point, not that he wanted to either.

“seriously, guys! where’s my harem of girls!”

He went on with his story, after a while his own voice cracking up in slight laughter as he leaned back on the chair comfortably.

“imagine this fifteen year old baby lookin’ like maybe twelve – yea, i was a small child. didn’t exactly _shrink_ when i got older. so imagine this twelve year old toddler just surrounded by a _gang_ of twenty year olds. i looked like their _child!_ like three dudes committed in polygamous gay marriage and love-birthed _me!_ ”

At some point Sans had gotten up from his chair, gesturing as he walked around the stage, loving the audience’s laughter as he continued.

“’m surprised no one ever talked to them about it, i can see it in front of my eyes like it _did_ happen. some co-worker seeing one of them in the park and just saying, ‘heyyy, pal, i didn’ know you had a _son._ ’ though really, it’s better it never happened. ‘cause it would’a’ve ended in a twelve year old toddler screaming, ‘ _you’re the son!’_ at a stranger.”

“speaking of sons,” Sans went on eventually, sitting back down on the chair. “dads are great aren’t they? you look up to them, they teach you things, they leave to get burger king and never show up again-”  
He paused as he got a rumble of surprised laughter, before continuing on.

“’m kidding, kidding. that’s what i do. i’m a _comedian,_ jesus christ, way to take me serious. anyway, any a y’all ever gotten the birds an’ bees talk?” Not actually waiting for a response, Sans simply went on, assuming the answer. “yea, me neither. but apparently at one point my dad decided that my _brother –_ few years younger than me, great guy. you’d love him. he’s amazing. so my dad decided that my _brother_ should get one. and he- the genius old man decided i was the perfect candidate for that.”

The gig was going great. He continued his story, making fun of Gaster, remembering how they then decided to prank him by making Papyrus ask Gaster about gay sex. The audience was eating up every word of him, and before he knew, Sans was almost through his text. He could see from the clock on the wall across from the stage that his time was almost over either, so he went for his final spurt.

“you know, the wildest thing that happened to me was during high school,” he told them, seeming lost in thought. “so i was with my friend meth again, yea, good ol’ meth. and he brought me to his room, one of the few rooms he _actually_ won the territorial fights against the rats. and he moves away his _carpet_ to reveal a hatch to a secret _basement_. why was it secret? well, when i went in there, the _entire_ floor was – welp it was nice being here.” Sans broke his story up mid-sentence, already getting up and folding the chair in. “gotta keep some of that anticipation, see ya.”

And he left the stage, leaving the microphone in it’s stand again, letting out a both exhausted and relieved sigh when once he got to the backroom.

Mettaton was already – or still – sitting there, hands folded in front of his face, somehow looking excited despite the lack of facial features.

“You did _amazing,_ darling!” The robot told him excitedly. “You were just as good as expected. No! Better.”  
“gee, y’re makin’ me blush metts.”  
“Oh, I sure hope I am,” the robot cooed back at him, getting a small chuckle from Sans. “So. How do you feel? Pretty empowering having an audience love you, isn’t it?”  
“gotta admit, ‘t was pretty nice,” Sans huffed out, his hands stuffed in his pockets, but giving Mettaton a nod. “’m glad i took this job.”  
“Oh, and so am I!” Mettaton assured him. “But enough talk about jobs. Sans.” The robot rolled over to the skeleton, an arm around his shoulder comfortably. “Are you free any time this week?”

Now this had Sans tensing.

“yea…? most of the week,” he muttered out warily. “...why?”  
“Oh, because I’d like to go out some time, of course!” Mettaton cooed, like it was the most normal thing in the world. “I know a _very_ cute place back in the capital. A bit pricey, but don’t worry about that! I’m treating you. If you’re willing to come, that is.”  
“mettaton, i-” Sans was stammering, eyes wide and shocked, having a hard time following up with what he was _suggesting._ “like- you mean-”  
“A date, darling!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also any1 here watch sense8?? because i do and the finale episode just came out and i probably wont finish it today (i have the attention span of a goldfish) but so far my gay little heart is THRIVING
> 
> strong women are so good


	12. wikiHow - How To Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOPS IM LATE SORRY ENJOY THE CHAPTE R I REALLY LOVE THIS ONE

“THAT’S AMAZING!!!” Papyrus was already cheering excitedly. Sans had _tried_ to beat around the bush with the whole date topic, but Papyrus was a very very curious cat and could easily tell his older brother was hiding something.

“paps, i haven’ been on a date since- i don’ think i’ve _ever_ been on a date!” Sans argued slightly desperately. He wasn’t even sure why he _accepted_ the date. Because he was so taken aback? Because Mettaton was a damn celebrity and turning him down felt like he would regret it?  
Or was he just... genuinely interested?

“WELL! IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO START!!!” Papyrus assured him excitedly. “OH WOWIE!!! I HAVE SO MUCH TO PREPARE, DO YOU EVEN HAVE _ANY_ DATE-WORTHY CLOTHES???”  
“uh… this?” Sans suggested, tugging at the loose hoodie he was wearing, though Papyrus was already shaking his head.  
“I WILL HAVE TO GO SHOPPING FOR SOME, AND PROBABLY PICK UP A BOOK ON DATING...”  
“a dating book?” Sans repeated with a small, surprised chuckle. But Papyrus was too deep in thought to answer him.

“FRIDAY YOU SAY? I WILL HAVE TO HURRY!” He went on. “MAYBE I CAN TAKE A DAY OFF WORK ON WEDNESDAY AND GO TO THE CAPITAL-”  
Okay. This was enough. “really, paps, ‘s fine,” Sans stopped him carefully. “y’ don’ gotta sacrifice your time for that. i can manage.”  
“OH, UHH… SURE… I AM SURE YOU CAN...” Papyrus muttered, absolutely not sounding convincing at all. “BUT I… WOULD LOVE TO ASSIST! _PLEASE?_ ”  
Oh gee. There was just _something_ about Sans that gave him a hard time saying ‘no’ to Papyrus.

“...alright,” he finally sighed out. “but don’t take a free day for me. we’ll go after your shift and i’ll ‘port us.”  
“HMMMM… OKAY, DEAL!” Papyrus chimed, holding his hand towards Sans like they just made a contract. Sans took it in a firm handshake, before he suddenly got pulled into a tight hug.

“YOU KNOW, I AM VERY PROUD OF YOU,” Papyrus said, his voice soft and sincere. “YOU’VE GOTTEN VERY FAR!!!”

Sans felt warm at the words, a tight knot building up in his throat, almost like he didn’t quite believe him. But also appreciating the words so so much.

“...thanks,” he muttered out, face buried in Papyrus’ chest from the hug. “y’re the greatest, paps.”  
Papyrus cackled proudly in reply. “THAT I AM!!!”

 

“’s this really necessary…?” Sans asked with a small groan in his voice as he had to watch Papyrus already pick up various suits and button-ups for Sans to try on

“WELL, YOU I DON’T THINK YOU OWN ANY CLOTHES THAT AREN’T HOODIES OR T-SHIRTS WITH PUNS ON THEM.”

“and shorts,” Sans reminded him. “and sweatpants.”  
“THAT’S WORSE??? AND I CAN’T EXACTLY BORROW YOU ANY OF _MY_ CLOTHES EITHER!”

Sans let out a surprised snort, laughing as he imagined himself in one of Papyrus’ tank tops, probably large enough for Sans to wear it like a dress.

“yea, ‘kay,” Sans finally agreed, still laughing, though. “you win.”  
“GREAT!!!” Papyrus cheered happily. “AND DO NOT WORRY!!! WE WILL FIND THE PERFECT OUTFIT FOR YOU!”  
“tha’s not what i’m worried about...”

But he already agreed to this anyway. He was stuck in this.

Once Papyrus had collected up a good pile of clothes, he shoved them into Sans’ arms, ushering him to a small changing room. Sans placed the clothes down onto the bench, eyeing them with a sigh. Hoh boy. This was going to be a long day.

Sans went through the outfits one at a time, fancy suits in varying cold colors, cyan, blue, turquoise. It wasn’t until he came out with a black – dark blue in the light – suit and Papyrus clapped his hands to his face excitedly.

“IT FITS YOU SO WELL!!!” He cheered happily and Sans let out a relieved sigh. “WHAT DO YOU THINK???”  
“yea, ‘s good,” he told him, moving his hands to stuff them in his pockets, only to realize they were fake. Welp.

“BE HONEST,” Papyrus pushed, quirking a brow at Sans. “DID YOU LOOK AT YOURSELF??? HOW DOES IT FEEL?”

“uhhh… i like the color,” Sans admitted, a bit taken aback at having to add his own contribution to a _dressing_ matter.

“ARE YOU COMFORTABLE???”  
“’m fine.”  
“ _SANS,_ ” Papyrus insisted, until Sans let out a sigh. “YOU JUST WANT THIS OVER WITH!!!”  
“busted.”  
“DO YOU _REALLY_ WANT TO SPEND YOUR DATE IN A SUIT YOU’RE NOT COMFORTABLE IN???”  
“well, none a them were really comfortable,” Sans noted. “’s fine, though, really. ‘m not a suit guy, i guess, but ‘s just for a day.”  
“NO, NO, NO, IT’S NOT FINE,” Papyrus muttered, shaking his head a little. “I AM SORRY!!! YOU’RE RIGHT! I’VE BEEN GOING AT THIS THE WRONG WAY! GO CHANGE OUT OF THIS AND WAIT, I’M LOOKING FOR SOMETHING ELSE!”

He picked up the pile of clothes, already folding them as he ran off to bring them back, leaving Sans alone in the changing room, overwhelmed. Hoh boy. He _did_ just want this over with, and now he had to try on even more…  
He took off the almost-black suit, not bothering to put on his own clothes, since he just assumed Papyrus would want him to try on more any moment anyways. So instead he just sat onto the small bench, waiting for a sign of his brother.

And he got it a few minutes later in form of a knock and Papyrus voice saying, “BROTHER, I BROUGHT THE CLOTHES!!!”

Sans gave him an acknowledging sound in reply, before unlocking the changing room door and opening it enough for Papyrus to hand him the clothes. Which… weren’t suit pieces this time. Huh. Sans handed him back the suit from before, before closing and locking the door again, turning to the new pile of clothes sitting on the bench.

This… was something new…

It seemed like Papyrus had really taken Sans’ point of not being a suit kinda person to heart, because the new outfit consisted of a dark blue long sleeve, some less tight but not completely loose jeans and… a leather jacket?

Damn, he… actually liked this one. It wasn’t exactly his I’m-too-depressed-to-care style, but it felt a lot more _right_ than the suits had. And it wasn’t as uncomfortable, he didn’t feel trapped or like a target in it, heck, Sans hadn’t even realized he _had_ felt that way in the suits until he realized the feeling was _gone_ once he wore this.

He stepped out of the changing room, getting greeted by excited clapping of his brother.

“YES!!! THIS IS PERFECT!!!” He cheered happily. “YOU LOOK VERY COOL AND VERY HANDSOME!!!”

Sans felt warm at the compliment, letting out a small, embarrassed chuckle and moving to stuff his hands into his pockets. Which he _had_ now. Much less spacey and soft as his hoodie pockets, but they worked. “thanks, bro. y’ chose a good one there.”  
Papyrus let out a proud cackle, arms akimbo as he posed. “OF COURSE I DID!!! I AM, AFTER ALL, VERY GREAT!”

They got back home, Sans back in his regular clothes and Papyrus carrying a ‘plastic’ bag made out of plants from waterfall, containing the new date outfit for Sans. Though they barely arrived until Papyrus was already rushing up the stairs, dropping Sans’ outfit in front of his room and came rushing back downstairs with a book in his hands.

Oh.

Oh _no._

It wasn’t over _yet,_ was it?

Apparently there actually _was_ something like a guide to dates, because the book Papyrus was proudly holding in front of Sans had a big title reading, “DATING MANUAL (for beginners)” and Sans… actually had a hard time suppressing a laugh. He wasn’t sure why. Just. Wow. People wrote guides to dating?  
“I FOUND IT IN THE LIBRARY!!!” Papyrus told him excitedly.

“i see,” Sans replied, still snickering. Alright. This might actually be fun. He’ll humor him.

“APPARENTLY IT’S WRITTEN BY A MONSTER TOO!!! THE LIBRARIAN SAID IT’S A NOT VERY POPULAR BOOK – THOUGH I DO NOT SEE WHY, IT LOOKS GREAT – SO THEY ALLOWED ME TO BUY IT OFF THEM!”

“damn, y’ got a real deal outta this, didn’t cha?” Sans asked teasingly, though it went right past Papyrus.

“YES!!! NOW I CAN STUDY THIS BOOK THOROUGHLY!” And knowing Papyrus, he would actually do so, too. “DO YOU WANT ME TO READ IT TO YOU???”  
“do _you_ wanna read it to me?” Sans asked, though he didn’t need to get an answer back. The way Papyrus was clutching the book in his hands, eyes big and excited, almost begging. Like a puppy. “alright, big boy, get on the couch.”  
“YES!!! YOU’RE GOING TO BE A MASTER AT THE DATING AFTER THIS!!!” The younger brother promised, almost throwing himself on the couch. Sans followed up chuckling, sitting down and scooting closer to his brother, snuggling to his side so he could peek into the book. To see any scientific sketches and graphs on dating, of course.

Papyrus began reading the guide, Sans actually following up closely, the shrill, loud voice so used and familiar to him that it was a calming presence.

It didn’t _look_ like an older book, but it was describing pretty outdated techniques. Though it made sense given that it was written by a monster, since the techniques all hit pretty clothes to their roots as monsters.

It started off to describing the dating hud. The so called ‘dating hud’ was a way to expose parts of one’s magic, close to one’s soul, to the person you’re dating. It gave them a better insight on your partner’s thoughts, their reactions, their intentions. When they seem to be ‘feeling it,’ when they’re ready for you to make a move, and also egg.

But sharing that kind of information is also a matter of… a _lot_ of trust. It was extremely exposing, possibly invasive.

Sans had still been a kid when the dating hud trend started to die out. Monsters and humans alike started abusing it, starting making their partner share more than they were comfortable with to get information out of them, to get at them easier, trick them easier, while not sharing the same kind of intimacy. Because they ‘weren’t ready,’ or ‘would do it some other time.’

There were still some monsters that did it, but usually they were older or already very close and trusting. And Sans was neither of these. So, he didn’t say a word about it to Papyrus, but there was no way he was going to even consider the dating hud.

It continued on to more common dating rituals, though, starting to sound – and look – a lot like a wikiHow article. Starting off with some insights of which kinds of dates there are, what you might be looking for in a date, which Papyrus made a big point of involving Sans in to figure out what he was looking for, how he wanted to date.

Sans had _absolutely_ no idea, so they settled it based on completely nonsensical back-and-forth. Papyrus said that his brother didn’t seem to be too interested in looking for something very long-lasting right now and more was looking for something simple and fun. Sans didn’t complain, so that’s what they settled with in the end.

It went on to getting yourself ready for the date, though the section was very large and divided into different types of monsters and their specific hygiene care. They went for ‘hard-skins’ for Sans’, which didn’t have a lot of useful information on hygiene or stuff like that, and instead went straight to outfits in the bipedal section. They already had Sans’ outfit, though, so… check that.

It went on with a lot of advices and tips and information, about how to find dates, how to think independently, not letting yourself get hurt. Learning things like small talk, communication, learning to poke fun at yourself, don’t take yourself to serious, be yourself. Sans didn’t feel like he was going to have a lot of trouble with that.

The book went on like that for a while, though Sans started to space out, nodding and humming every once in a while to let Papyrus know he was still listening. He was not. He had a _date_ in a few days. An actual date, with a celebrity robot nonetheless.

How did it even _come_ to that? Why would Mettaton be so interested in him? Just because he was a skeleton? Because he knew Alphys? Or did the robot simply genuinely like Sans?  
He didn’t know, but oddly enough… Sans didn’t have an initially bad feeling about this.

 

“HE’S HERE!!!” Papyrus screeched excitedly upon hearing the doorbell the day of the date. “BROTHER, ARE YOU READY??? DO YOU HAVE EVERYTHING??? ARE YOU DRESSED?”

Sans left his room with a chuckle, only slightly nervous, eyeing Papyrus curiously. “’m good,” he said, tugging the sleeves of his leather jacket right, before rushing down the stairs. “you sure sound excited, though.”  
“OF COURSE!!! MY FAVORITE AND ONLY BROTHER IS GOING ON HIS FIRST DATE!”  
“d’awww,” Sans replied, voice clearly playing, but he still felt a little touched. “first date at twenty-seven. must be a record.”  
“I DON’T THINK IT IS,” Papyrus argued. “AND I THINK THAT IS COMPLETELY FIN-” He got interrupted by the doorbell ringing again, the taller skeleton immediately letting out a surprised screech. “SANS, WHY DIDN’T YOU GET THE DOOR YET!!! YOU’RE GONNA MISS HIM!”

“chill,” Sans replied with a chuckle while opening the door. “’s all good. hey metts.”  
Mettaton stood before them, Sans at the door and Papyrus closely behind him, the robot dressed in a sparkling red suit, fitted for his rectangular shape. His metallic case looked a bit more polished than usually too, which was impressive, because it always looked very polished.

“Well hello there, darlings,” Mettaton spoke casually and confidently. “You look _very_ nice, Sansy. I hadn’t been sure you were the type to polish up before a date.”

Sans felt his face grow the smallest bit warmer. “heh, yea. ‘m not,” he admitted. “paps chose the outfit.”  
The robot was already nodding along, before looking up at the taller skeleton behind Sans. “And it was an exquisite choice, dear! You have a very great taste.”  
“THANK YOU SO MUCH, METTATON!!!” Papyrus replied excitedly. “I WANTED TO MAKE SURE MY BROTHER LOOKED THE VERY BEST FOR HIS DATE!”

The robot let out a soft laugh, before facing Sans again. “Speaking of the date. Are you ready, dear?”  
“oh, god no,” Sans admitted. “but sweep me away.”  
“No need to be nervous,” Mettaton chuckled. “But let’s go, River Person is already waiting for us. See you, Papsi.”  
“bye, pap.”  
“GOODBYE, BROTHER! METTATON!!” Papyrus called after them, waving excessively. “ENJOY YOUR DATE!!!”

The robot was leading Sans through the Snowdin streets, both monsters next to each other. In silence at first, before Mettaton let out an amused hum.  
“Papyrus really is a sweetheart, isn’t he?” The robot asked, the question making Sans smile immediately.

“yea, ‘e is,” Sans replied softly. “wan’ed to put me in a suit before, but he ended up insisting to find something comfortable.”

“I think it fits you just fine anyway,” Mettaton replied with a hum.

They walked past the library, towards the river where River Person would be. Passing Grillby’s. And it wasn’t like Sans was still so obsessed with Grillby he couldn’t even get _close_ to his bar, but… he still glanced towards the welcoming looking building briefly, like he was expecting to find something he was waiting for.

And he found Grillby. The elemental standing at the back door, bringing out the trash. And he had caught Sans as well, both of the monsters catching eyes as they passed, the skeleton dressed up more than he’d ever been, next to a celebrity robot.

Sans was the first to give in, quickly turning his head, pretending like he hadn’t seen anything. It wasn’t like this was special anyways. This was Grillby’s _bar._ It wasn’t surprising he’d see _Grillby_ there.

“Are you alright, darling?” The robot asked after noticing Sans having grown quiet.  
“uh, yea, ‘m fine...” Sans muttered back. “jus’ lost in thought...”

For a small moment, Mettaton glanced back to where Sans had been looking, though he didn’t say anything or push it.

River Person was already at the riverbank waiting. Or maybe not waiting, since they _always_ were there. But the way Mettaton got in confidentially, holding one of his gloved hands out for Sans to help him in, the way River Person started going without having to be told where to. Yea, Sans was pretty sure they _had_ been waiting for them.

“we’re headin’ to the capital, right?” Sans asked curiously, getting an affirmative hum back from the robot. “so they finally finished that river connection?”

“Well, it is still under construction,” Mettaton hummed back. “For tests, safety reasons mostly. Though it is basically done.”  
“so we’re…?”  
“I’ve got a special permit, darling,” the robot said, a bit of smug in his voice that got Sans huffing out a surprised laughter.

“wow,” he said, letting out an impressed whistle. “guess we’re really that special tonight.”  
“Oh, but we are!” Mettaton confirmed immediately. “Nothing but the best for this date~”

And he seemed to mean it, too. When River Person stopped at the Capital stop, it didn’t look like the other river connections. Instead it was fancied up by bushes and trees in full bloom, some flower beds, crystals decorating the walls and ceiling that Sans didn’t think he’d ever seen in this part of the underground. Mettaton really didn’t seem to save on the expenses.

Part of Sans felt like… it was too much. Even if it was worth _him,_ which Sans was _certainly_ not convinced for, this was a _date_. Their first one nonetheless. It should be simple and casual.

But he also didn’t complain. He wanted to go through this breezy, and if that meant going along with Mettaton’s over-the-top, then he’ll do that. Maybe that was just how Mettaton was. Sans didn’t think he _had_ a mode that wasn’t over-the-top.

So in a way, all of this was just normal, he figured.

It still seemed like a lot, but Sans wasn’t going to push it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i would usually write more but im still sick from having had bacon w/ egg  
> i love it but so much greaaaseeee


	13. Why Grillby when you can date a Celebrity, your Boss and Agent at the same time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my girlfriend and i started a new rp and holy shit we're so obsessed with it. we literally spent entire days doing nothing but rp, entire NIGHTS, i just spent all day roleplaying, pulled an all nighter rping, went out with my family for some hours, and then came back to rp more
> 
>  
> 
> we're fucking obsessed and its taking toll on my fanfiction writing disciplines xD

Sans was impressed. For Mettaton’s standards the restaurant he brought them to seemed actually… decent? As in, not _too_ fancy.

It was some kind of asian restaurant offering sushi and a food bar with raw meats they’d fry with a sauce of your choice. It was nice, definitely more than the type of ‘restaurants’ he would go to, but also not completely out of his usual possibilities.

“really weren’t lyin’ when you said you knew a good place,” Sans hummed as they both sat down on their table.

“Of course, darling, my taste is impeccable,” Mettaton prided himself, ordering himself a drink, Sans following up on that quickly.

“thought y’ didn’t eat,” Sans noted curiously and quirking a brow at Mettaton, getting a small chuckle back.

“I _might_ have told Papyrus that to get out of eating his pasta,” he admitted, though not actually sounding guilty. “He’s a very sweet guy, but his pasta is...”  
“special,” Sans finished for him. “but yea, i gotcha. no hard feelin’s. so you eat?”

“Sort of,” the robot began. “Alphys built in a mechanism that can generate the power to fuel my body out of magical foods. I technically don’t _need_ to eat if I have another way of recharging, but it’s still useful.”

“damn,” Sans said, letting out an impressed whistle. “alph’ sure knows what she’s doin’.”

Mettaton gave him an agreeing hum, thanking the waiter as they brought them their drinks. “She does! I owe her a lot.”

They both got their food while continuing to chat, Mettaton opting for sushi, while Sans was checking out what kind of meat they had. The robot told him a lot about Alphy’s work on his body, but also her work on trying to find a way to break the barrier. Sans told him a little about their shared time as lab assistants, about how they got along.

It wasn’t until they both arrived back at their table with their food, Mettaton resting his LED screen on the back of his hands, that he said, “enough about Alphys, though. Tell me about yourself, darling. You said you quit your lab job?”

“yea, been in a bad place,” Sans admitted, voice going a little quieter at that topic. “not exactly proud of that. i kinda just… let paps carry us as soon as he got a job...”  
“Oh, but darling, you’re changing that now, right?” Mettaton cooed back, sounding more confident than consoling in his words. “You’ve got a job now, and you look like you’re enjoying it, too.”  
“i am,” Sans admitted. It was a weird thing to say, a weird thing to notice, but… he _was_ enjoying his job.

“And if you’d like to get back into science alongside your gig at my resort… Alphys has been looking for an assistant for a while,” the robot went on to suggest. “And I’m _sure_ she’d love them to be a friend.”  
“y’ _really_ sure about that?” Sans asked skeptically. “there’s more qualified people than me. haven’ exactly worked in a lab in years.”  
“Darling, you know Alphys, right?”  
“...yea?”  
“How _well_ does she do in working together with others?” Mettaton asked, the answer clearly already being obvious. “She’s been avoiding getting an assistant for months now, but it _has_ to happen eventually.”

“...alright,” Sans huffed out. “good point. i guess i’ll think about it?”  
“Excellent, darling, excellent!”

“so, what is this?” Sans hummed out eventually, eyeing Mettaton a little skeptically.  
“Why, what would you mean, darling? I thought it was clear this was a date?”

“yea?” Sans asked, letting out a soft chuckle. “’cause it almost feels more like y’re tryna be my agent. gettin’ me jobs all the time?”  
“Oh?” Mettaton asked, tone suddenly much more playful. “Who says I can’t be both? Your agent _and_ your date?”

“an’ my boss,” Sans reminded, joking at first, before realizing what he actually had just said. He let out a surprised huff. “wow. ok. i’m on a date with my boss.”

“Is that bad?”  
“no…?” Sans said, though the words sounding more like a question rather than a statement. “i mean, i guess not…? is it…?”

“I wouldn’t say it is,” Mettaton mused out, though he didn’t exactly sound like he was giving it too much of a thought. “Though… if it _does_ bother you we can end _this_ any time.”

Did it, though? Sans hadn’t even exactly thought about it that way until now. The way that his _boss_ had asked him out on a date. He’s been too busy trying to process the fact that a _celebrity robot_ had asked him out. Which was in all honestly already weird enough.

“nah, i think ‘s ok,” Sans finally decided. “not that i quite understand _why_ you’d wanna go out with me, but… guess ‘t doesn’ make it better or worse if y’re my boss.”

“You know, you’re a very special monster, Sans,” the robot hummed, eating his sushi through a hatch underneath his LED screen.

“why? ‘cause ‘m on a date with the famous mettaton?” Sans asked, though his tone was obviously joking.  
“Well, that of course as well,” Mettaton humbly agreed. “Though that’s not what I meant. You’re a people person. You’re charming and fun to be around. Have you never noticed that other monsters enjoy your company?”

Well, it wasn’t so much that he hadn’t noticed, rather than just simply hadn’t thought too much about it. It’s never been particularly special to _Sans,_ but… he had always found crowds to hang out with easier than his brother had.

“I like that about you, Sansy,” the robot finally went on. “I enjoy your company as well. _That’s_ why I asked you out on a date.”  
“wow… i...” Sans was a little overwhelmed. He’s been so busy asking himself _why_ someone like Mettaton would ask him out, that he somehow lost sight of that there actually _was_ a reason to it. A genuine actual reason. “so… y’re sayin’ it’s not ‘cause of my insanely good looks?”  
This time Mettaton seemed to be taken aback, taking a good moment, before bursting out in a loud laughter.

“Oh no, darling, of course!” He said, still laughing, getting Sans to laugh with him. “Of course it is! Your _insanely_ good looks _and_ your charm.”

“well then,” Sans replied, still chuckling slightly. “glad to know i’m that much of a charmer. y’re pretty decent yourself.”

“Why, how kind of you~”

 

Mettaton didn’t want to end the date quite yet when they finished their dinner, and in all honesty, neither did Sans really. It was oddly relaxing, yet not boring. So they decided to walk through the Capital for a bit longer.

It was late already, the natural light spreading from holes to the surface, mirrored by the many gems covering the underground’s walls and ceilings, was already fading and growing dark. It had an oddly romantic feel to it, which almost made Sans feel uncomfortable, but really. He didn’t care at this point. He was enjoying himself.

Papyrus had promised him a distraction from Grillby when he brought him to Mettaton’s concert, and hoh boy, what a distraction this was.

They were chatting about various things, small talk, stories Sans had prepared for his next show, but eventually mostly just about Papyrus. Sans had a lot to talk about Papyrus.

“’e moved us to snowdin, just for me. to ‘elp me get more… involved i guess? go out more. moved to _snowdin._ single-handedly rented a house and packed our bags and moved us there. for _me._ ”

“He cares about you a lot,” Mettaton hummed out thoughtfully. “You’re really… lucky to have a brother like that. Going such miles just to support you.”

“he’s the _best._ he’s the best brother i could have,” Sans agreed softly.

“What about you, though?” The robot asked eventually, stopping in his tracks to look at Sans. “You don’t talk a lot about _yourself,_ do you?”

For a moment, a small moment, Sans stopped walking as well. But that moment ran by quickly, and he moved on, eventually prompting Mettaton to follow up again. “ain’t a lot to say ‘bout me. you know where i work, you know i got a brother, my dad’s gone-”  
“Gone?” Mettaton asked, expecting some kind of elaboration. He didn’t get one. “Well… that’s quite alright. I don’t like talking about my past either.”  
“past’s in the past.”  
“And it should stay there as well,” Mettaton agreed. “It’s been… really nice, Sans.”  
“yea?” The skeleton asked, his tone soft, though not as surprised anymore. “i had fun ‘s well.”  
“There’s something… Before… Before we end this, I would like to...” Mettaton clearly was having trouble finding his words, which was an odd look on him. A very unused look. Sans was almost impressed. He paused, taking a deep breath. “Could we go somewhere… private?”

It didn’t register with Sans immediately either. It took him a moment for the words to quite settle. But then he remembered that he was on a _date._ He remembered what dating _entailed._ He remembered what people – people asking you out on _dates_ – might want from you. And it ran a cold shiver down his spine.

“no,” he said, before he quite realized he was saying anything.

“Ex… what…?”  
“i- i… sorry,” Sans muttered out then, arms crossed and eyes avoiding the robot at any cost. “i don’t… i never wanted to do… _that._ i didn’t realize you would.”  
“What…?” Mettaton repeated himself, before the words finally clicked. “Oh! No! Sansy, darling, no! There’s just things I’d like to discuss before… things might go farther. Things I don’t exactly want to go _public._ ”  
“...oh,” Sans muttered out, his tone quiet.  
“I didn’t mean to scare you, darling,” the robot went on. “We don’t have to, really, if you don’t-”  
“nah, ‘s good,” Sans interrupted him, though. “’s good. where we headin’?”  
“Alphys will probably be in the lab. My resort?” Mettaton suggested, his tone suddenly sounding nervous and shy, like he was worried of saying something wrong. “We can get one of the rooms...”

He didn’t want sex. “sounds good.” He just wanted to talk. Sans had to keep it in mind, had to chant it into his head as he took a hold of Mettaton’s arm, teleporting them both into the MTT resort.

The second they arrived, in the lobby rather than already in a room, Sans let go of the robots arm, the arm quickly going to Mettaton’s chest – or LED screen at least – as he let out a startled gasp.  
“So… _that’s_ how teleporting feels like,” he breathed out, sounding clearly shocked and startled.

“heh, kinda,” Sans replied with a shrug. “sorry i didn’t warn you.” Truthfully, he was on the edge, was nervous and just wanted this to be over.  
“...Kind of?” Mettaton parroted slightly confused as he seemed to slowly get his bearings back.

“well… feels a bit different for me since… whole war stuff,” Sans mused out, “though others don’t seem to feel it.” And Sans himself had gotten used to it. The odd varying flashes of emotions, feelings, sometimes thoughts that Sans knew had been _there_ , but would forget immediately. Brief ideas, fleeing like dreams. He learned to deal with those, and if so by simply not teleporting to every possible place anymore.

“I see…,” Mettaton muttered, his voice slightly more subdued. He straightened himself, not looking as beat from the teleporting anymore. “Let’s get to a room, shall we…?”

“yea,” Sans replied, short and quick. “sounds good.”

The atmosphere suddenly didn’t feel as relaxing anymore when Mettaton brought them to the rooms. When he got out his key card to unlock one. It didn’t feel as free and careless anymore, and Sans almost jolted when he heard the door click shut.

“don’t!” He called out panicked, startled. “shi- sorry, just… don’t… lock it please…?”  
Mettaton seemed startled himself for a moment, hand still on the doorknob as he looked at Sans. He let go of it slowly.

“Of course not,” the robot told him gently. “It’s not lock. You can leave at any time. I… I wouldn’t hurt you, Sans, you know that. Right?”  
No. “yea…” He didn’t actually _know_ that. “just… uh. just nervous i guess. sorry.” He simply had to believe in the good in monster’s souls. That’s the only thing he _had_ to make him believe Mettaton wouldn’t hurt him.

But Sans decided to try to relax either way, dropping himself on the bed, back leaning against the wall. Mettaton joined him eventually, not exactly making the situation less awkward.

“so,” Sans muttered out, trying to get whatever Mettaton had to tell him going. “wha’s this about?”

“Well...” Mettaton began hesitantly. His arms were crossed and despite the lack of facial features, he looked troubled. “There is something… I’ve been keeping from you. Something I didn’t know how to bring up, something I didn’t know if I _wanted_ to bring up. But I have to if… _this_ is going to _be_ something.”

Sans didn’t respond, but he was clearly listening. Not looking at Mettaton directly, but from the side, still making it seem like he was paying attention. And Mettaton could tell, going on rather than waiting for Sans to say something.

“We’ve met before. I’ve _known_ you before, Sans, before we all got locked up and scattered in the underground...”  
“wha’ do you mean…?”  
“I haven’t _always_ been a robot, Sans...” Mettaton muttered, and then it was only a matter of seconds until it clicked. Or at least _something_ clicked.

Mettaton wasn’t a robot. He was a monster, an actual monster, _some_ kind of monster that could be turned into a robot, that could control a robot body. And what kind of monster could take control of inanimate objects? A kind he knew from his childhood, knew very well.

A shiver ran down Sans’ back as he breathed out a hoarse, “... _mads?_ ”

And on retrospect Sans should’ve been really embarrassed by that assumption, should’ve guessed better just by Mettaton being _Mettaton._ And _definitely_ not Mad Ghost. But he knew either way when Mettaton burst out laughing, not offended or making fun of Sans, but surprised.

“No, darling, no! But close,” he told Sans amused.

And considering that there weren’t a lot of options _left_ for Sans, he was pretty sure he knew who he was sitting in front of now.

“oh wow,” Sans breathed out, still shocked. “...quickstab?” He got a hesitant nod in reply. “that’s… wow… you… _wow_.”  
“If that’s… if you don’t want me anymore- I’ve done thing’s in my past I’m not proud of...”

So _that’s_ what he meant when he said the past was in the past and should stay there. Mettaton was Quickstab. _The_ Quickstab that basically _stalked_ him as a child. And he just went on a date with him. An actual, genuine date.

“i can’t believe you actually got me to go out with you,” Sans huffed out, a hand on his skull as he was trying to process this information.

“I didn’t ask you on a date because of my childhood obsession!” The robot tried quickly. “Please, you _have_ to believe me. I asked you out, because I think you, the Sans I know _now_ is a good person that I enjoy being around. I’m not _Quickstab_ anymore. And I don’t _want_ to be that monster anymore.”

And neither did Sans _see_ him as that monster anymore.

It suddenly made sense, a lot of what Sans had noticed. The familiarity of his speaking pattern, the way he seemed to have _recognized_ them immediately, had invited them in. But no matter how familiar things seemed. This monster wasn’t _Quickstab_. This monster wasn’t the pushy ghost that wouldn’t respect his privacy.

“i don’t mind,” Sans said finally, Mettaton glancing at him surprised. “you’re right. y’re not quickstab anymore. you _changed_ and… yea. uh. why’d you kept it from me, though?”

“I don’t want it to be public knowledge,” the robot admitted. “’Quickstab’ is a part of my life I’d… rather not have to do with anymore.”  
“ah,” Sans muttered out. “i see...”  
“I didn’t mean to keep it from you-”  
“nah, it’s cool,” Sans interrupted him quickly. But it was a lot. A lot to take in, and he threw himself back on the bed, lying down so he was looking up at the ceiling. “wow.”

“And… well. There’s another thing,” Mettaton began hesitantly.

“seriously?” Sans asked, almost bursting out in disbelieving laughter. “this wasn’t enough already?”

Mettaton didn’t respond, suddenly feeling awkward and out of place. But he didn’t need to either, as Sans was already shaking his head, letting out a stressed sigh.

“sorry,” he muttered out. “’s just a lot. but go on.”

The robot still hesitated, but after a little bit went on. “This… is only temporary,” he finally explained. “This body? It’s the most stable one Alphys could put together, though it’s still not _me._ This isn’t who _I_ am.”  
“...ok?” Sans muttered, not entirely sure where this was leading.

“Alphys has been working on another body,” Mettaton went on. “One that represents me better. But it’s unfinished yet, not very stable… I can only use it with people I know I am safe around.”

And as Mettaton mentioned this, things in Sans clicked, and he suddenly knew what this was about.

“...you wanna show me,” he breathed out.

“If that’s okay with you,” Mettaton replied.

“if that’s- i mean- of course? i-” Sans paused, taking a big gulp of air. “if you’re sure about this? where is it…?”

Instead of replying, Mettaton turned around, pulling down his suit jacket enough to reveal a hatch with the label ‘SWITCH.’

“Turn it,” he said, his voice hiding excitement.

Sans was more hesitant than him now. “are y’ absolutely sure about this…?” He muttered out, but the reply he got back sounded very convinced.

“Absolutely,” Mettaton said. “I trust you. And it’s about time I’d get to show this one off to someone.”

That even got a laugh out of Sans, and finally the skeleton gave him a shrug, opening the small hatch. “a’right,” he decided. “if y’ say so.” And he flipped the switch, yelping away startled when the hatch suddenly emitted clouds over clouds of steam.

For a moment – a very scary moment – Sans thought they had broken something. That the switch was malfunctioning, that he had just done a fatal mistake.

But then the mist began to lift, and a loud, deep and electronic voice could be heard, calling out a drawled out, “Ooo _oooh yesss~_ ”

Well, that sure didn’t sound like malfunctioning. That didn’t sound like malfunctioning at all. And after only a little bit, Sans could see a figure through the misty steam. A very humanoid figure, the colors slowly revealing themselves in hues of fuchsia, black and metallic gray.

Sans could quickly tell this body wasn’t finished yet. The hair looked stiff and impractical. The legs – while very long – looked kind of chunky. But the most, _most_ obvious part was the bright pink soul floating over the robot’s chest, Sans’ feeling his face heat up at the sight, quickly glancing away.

Mettaton reacted as well, his hands cupping the soul and dragging it into his robot body, where it stayed for now.

“Sorry about that,” he huffed out with a small laugh. “Alphy hasn’t quite figured out a way yet to let this little rascal stay inside.”

Sans let out a laugh as well, though a much more nervous one. “this is very… different,” he uttered out, unsure about what to say.

“Is it bad?” The robot asked almost immediately, but Sans shook his head.

It was clearly based on humans, which was an odd choice. Though Sans couldn’t really care less about that. What had him most flustered – the soul incident aside – was the fact that Mettaton had a _face_ now. A fully functioning face, eyes looking into Sans’, cheeks slightly flushed in a darker fuchsia hue, and it was just so _weird._ Sans was not used to seeing Mettaton’s expressions. To being able to tell anything by his face.

“I really hope today was okay, Sans,” Mettaton muttered out eventually. He sat up from his very seductive lying position on the bed, to come closer to the skeleton instead. “I… personally had a lot of fun.”  
“i did, too,” Sans admitted before he could quite realize what he was saying. But it was true. Despite everything else, Sans _did_ have fun. “’t was a lot, but… i _did_ have fun.”  
“I’d like to repeat this some time,” the robot breathed out, his face ever coming close to Sans’. And Sans could feel himself heat up, could feel the rushing magic of his soul, though he could not tell what it was from. Fear? Excitement? Whatever it was, he let it happen as Mettaton hummed out a quiet, “if that’s what you’d like, too,” and let their mouths touch in one of the most careful and innocent kisses Sans might’ve ever had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i just slid to the bathroom dabbing when i went to pee so u better applaud me
> 
> anyway  
> i know im making mettaton a bit too soft (dont judge me i like my mettaton nice and caring) and im trying to make him a bit more mettaton-ish selfish in future? so dont come with pitchforks and torches at me YET  
> but yea  
> i hope u liked this chapter!!


	14. Opposites attract each other, think of a Magnet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOPS SORRY ITS LATE I FORGOT  
> i got rly distracted bc i went out with a friend today (which was funny bc we're 1. both gay and not attracted each other and 2. look like 12, but everyone thought we were a couple and no one ID'ed us when we went to the sex store or bought alcohol (were of age tho))  
> also i lost all sense of time because vacation
> 
> anyway CHAPTER TIME

sans:

btw i hope u know ill tell paps about all of this

i respect u and all that stuff but i tell paps everything

 

metts:

I was expecting that. But please tell Papsi to keep it for himself.

I still don’t want any of this becoming public knowledge!

Except us, of course, if that’s what you like <3

 

sans:

hey slow down there, stud, i dont think theres quite an ‘us’ after one date

yet

 

metts:

Yet ~

 

Sans scoffed at the messages he got back, pocketing his phone as he left his shoes by the door. The house was already dark, so Sans would most likely have to wait until tomorrow until he got to tell Papyrus about everything. Or so he thought.  
The second Sans opened the door to his room, he heard another door, the door to _Papyrus_ room, slam open with great velocity, startling Sans almost enough to make him scream. But Papyrus was too quick anyways, already running up to Sans before he could react, wrapping his arms around him tightly.

“WELCOME BACK, BROTHER!!!” He said excitedly. “HOW WAS YOUR DATE!!! DID YOU HAVE FUN??? DID YOU KISS??? ARE YOU A COUPLE NOW???”

Sans gave the other skeleton a chuckle, not quite as surprised about the onslaught anymore. He patted his brother on the back, subtly letting him know to put him down again, which Papyrus did.  
“good, yes, yes and no.”

“YOU’RE NOT A COUPLE???” Papyrus asked, disappointment dripping from his voice in an amount you couldn’t even take serious anymore. Like a kicked puppy. Like a child that just spent it’s months savings of pocket money on it’s favorite ice cream to then drop it on the floor, so it’s dog came up and ate it, but it was chocolate ice cream and the dog died.

“aww, paps,” Sans cooed. “’t was just the first date. we’ll see what happens. but i had fun. we kissed.”  
“WAS IT GOOD???” Papyrus asked, all the disappointment quickly replaced with curiosity.

Was it good? Well. It was scary. Sans hadn’t been dating for years not _just_ because he wasn’t interested in it. But at the same time it was okay. And it was… kind of exciting?  
“he’s a robot,” Sans finally said. “’s what you’d expect.”  
“BOO,” Papyrus complained. “YOU’RE NO FUN!”  
“oh, you want fun? well how ‘bout i share with you some of the juice i brought home.”  
“NOW WE’RE TALKING!” Though instead of letting Sans ‘share the juice,’ Papyrus picked him up once more, carrying him into his room where sleeping bags were already on the ground, Sans’ pajama on one of them. “WE’RE HAVING A SLEEPOVER!!! SO YOU CAN TELL ME _EVERYTHING!”_

And they did. Sans was more than glad to be out of his dating clothes and in his pajama. While a lot better than a suit, Sans still preferred this over a shirt and leather jacket. They both made themselves comfortable in their sleeping bags next to each other as Sans began telling him about the date, the ride over the river to the capital, the restaurant. And eventually about what Mettaton told him, about how he used to be Quickstab.  
“OH!” Papyrus replied to that, the surprise so mild in his voice that it just doubled Sans’ surprise. “SO HE IS???”  
“wha’ do you _mean_ ‘so he is?’ you knew?”  
“WELL, I DIDN’T _KNOW,_ ” Papyrus hummed out, though really, that was answer enough, wasn’t it?

“ _how?_ ” Sans asked with a surprised laugh in his voice. “an’ why didn’t you _say_ anything?”  
“I WASN’T SURE!!! AND IF METTATON WASN’T TELLING US HIMSELF, I WAS SURE THERE WOULD BE A GOOD REASON! YOU DON’T OUT SOMEONE ELSE.”

“ok, fair,” Sans admitted, nodding along. “now to the other question. _how?!_ ”  
“HE USED TO BE ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS, BROTHER, DO YOU REALLY THINK I WOULD NOT RECOGNIZE HIM???” Papyrus sounded almost offended at the ‘accusation’ though Sans knew not to take it serious.

"y'know what?" Sans said. "very fair point. but yea, metts wants to keep it a private thing."

"I THOUGHT SO!!!" Papyrus replied with a nod. "IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU WERE ENJOYING YOURSELF, THOUGH!"

"yea, mettaton is... surprisingly nice," Sans mused out. Now that he thought of it, and of the Quickstab he used to know, it was surprising. He would've thought Mettaton might be more selfish, more self centered, but he was actually... very nice.

"HE ALWAYS WAS!!!" Papyrus confirmed happily. "YOU JUST HAD TO UNDERSTAND HIM TO SEE!"

"eh, i guess so."

 

It's been a few days since Sans' date with Mettaton. They hadn't planned a second date yet, and neither had they met anywhere outside of work so far, apparently Mettaton had been especially busy with the resort lately.

But Sans was still feeling better than usually. He couldn't quite put his finger on why, but Papyrus said it would be his self-worth or self-respect that had gotten better. And Sans had to admit. Actually going on a date... a successful one... It _did_ feel kind of empowering.

Empowering enough that when Dogaressa invited him to Grillby's for another poker night, he actually accepted. And he actually came.

It was the first time Sans had been to Grillby's since The Incident and Sans wasn't sure how to feel about it. For the most part he tried not to. At all. Just not to think about The Incident, about Grillby, or anything related. He was here for some poker with the dogs, not for childhood drama.

But it was still a hard topic to completely ignore, especially when Doggo said, "heard you went on a date with the celebrity robot. And here I thought you and Grillby had something going on."

Sans almost choked on his drink, looking up towards the dog surprised.

"Are you talking about Mettaton?" Dogaressa gasped out excitedly, the other dogs catching up on said excitement with wagging tails and barks. "Oh wow, Sans, tell us all about it!"

Well.

At least they had changed topics from Grillby.

 

Grillby, though, was almost disappointed by that development.

It’s been a while since he’s seen Sans in his bar, which… was not surprising. But still, in a way, hurt.

Being a bartender, Grillby was often one of the first in town to hear about what was going on. Not _the_ first, rarely the first, but the first usually came here to share it with others, including Grillby. So he had been one of the first to hear the celebrity robot was in town. One of the first to hear the skeletons were in some way acquainted with Mettaton. And, this time on his own accounts, the first to see Sans heading to a date with said robot.  
And Grillby had no right to complain. He _knew_ he had no right to complain. Sans was no longer in any way tied to him, hasn't been for a long time, but-

Seeing Sans with someone else was just another kick to his gut. He thought things had been good. Thought they were on good grounds again, after things had already fallen apart once. And then Grillby had to go and make that one little mistake that would have Sans drawing back again.

Even though Sans missed him, too. Even though Sans wanted him, too.

Running a hand through his flames, Grillby grabbed one of the shot glasses, pouring himself one. Red Bird let out a surprised huff as they watched the bartender drown it, as well as another.

"Geez, Grillbz, you good? You don't look so hot today." The bird asked, mostly sounding surprised, maybe amused by the development, though there was a hint of worry in their voice.

"Noooo, Grillzyyyy," Reese's cooed drunkenly, sitting at the bar close to red. "What's wroooong?"

"Please..." The bartender sighed out, only pouring him another shot once it dawned to him he had to deal with those two. "I'm fine, really. And you're both very drunk."

"Looks a lot like you're tryna join us, though!" The bird argued, nudging the drunken rabbit. "Ain't that right, Reese's?"

"Grillzyzzz we _need_ you! Don't be saaaad!"

"Yeaa, come on, man. Tell a pal what's up."

"...I told you. It's nothing," Grillby muttered out. "I'm simply a bit stressed lately. Tourists have been coming here lately, since Mettaton has become a more common scene..."

"Oh," Red said, only taking a moment before something clicked in their read. "Ooooh! It's about Sans, ain't it!" They were pointing their thumb-feather at Sans already obvious enough, though Reese's made it even more obvious by turning her whole body to gawk at the skeleton in question.

"You've been acting weird a while now, haven't seen you this upset until Sans showed up again, though! Something _happened_ between you and the rising-star."

"He's not- _what_?" Grillby asked, the words taking him aback a little himself. "Sans isn't a star."

"Eh, not yet he isn't," Red bird said, shrugging his shoulders. "Though he's been a pretty big hit at the new resort, and with being Mettaton's lover an' all. His name's been all over the internet."

"Oooooh, it's _that_ guy!" Reese's suddenly burst out, eyes widening as she was still staring at Sans. Who had very obviously noticed, giving the rabbit a casual pair of finger guns.

"That's not... like him," Grillby muttered out, eyes following Reese's over to Sans, the skeleton catching his as well. And for a brief moment Grillby was hoping for something – _anything_ – to happen. Some kind of sign, something to make this weird feeling in his stomach let off.

But there was nothing. Sans simply turned back to the dogs, accepting the lit dog treat Doggo offered him.

"I don't know, man, you ever seen his shows?" Red went on unperturbed.

"He's gooood," Reese's quickly confirmed.

"You seen him?"

"Seen the memes!"

"Oh hell yea, they're good!" Red agreed quickly, bursting out in a hearty chuckle.

So maybe Grillby was not always the first one to know what's going on. Maybe sometimes there were things that had gone completely by Grillby's head. Things that didn't seem realistic, things that Grillby almost didn't want to believe.

He knew Sans wanted a comedy gig, and Grillby didn't doubt he would be good at it, but... To be this popular? This big of a thing? He _knew_ Sans and he _knew_ that this wasn't like him.

So yea, sometimes there were things Grillby didn't know of.

But that didn't mean he couldn't change that.

 

Red and Reese's hadn't been lying when they said Sans was all over the internet. It was very easy to find his schedule at the MTT resort, so once he found a date that worked out with Grillby's times, he decided to pay the resort a visit.

That wasn't a weird or creepy thing to do. The resort was a popular place and a had very quickly become a very big attraction. It was only naturally to want to check it out. And maybe check in to see how their comedian is doing. Since he was already there.

Reserving a table – and a chair, and the silverware – was pretty expensive. Grillby could definitely see where Mettaton would have the money to pay all his people with from.

Though the place also seemed pretty nice. The steak was really good. Shaped like Mettaton's body, but also very good in taste, and would Grillby not be more preoccupied with other things, he'd definitely go out of his way to compliment the cook.

But he _was_ more preoccupied with other things. More specifically, Sans.

He came up after a very weird and slightly disturbing experimental arts play, including many half-nude monsters, one of which was continuously slamming a pole attached to their waist by a belt against some kind of metal framework.

He was definitely glad to finally see Sans on the stage. Especially when the skeleton caught eyes with him for a moment, that brief hopeful moment where Grillby knew Sans knew he was here. Less so when Sans simply broke the contact, looking straight ahead instead, starting his show.

Grillby had to admit, he was very good. He had expected a lot of bad jokes and puns, though that was not it. Not entirely, at least. There were definitely their fair share of Sans-flavored bad jokes and puns.

Though the main part of it were the anecdotes. The stories. Stories Grillby _knew,_ because he’s _been_ there. Stories he’s almost forgotten, or never quite seen in the light Sans told them in. Stories he could laugh at, that made him feel nostalgic.

When Sans finished, he disappeared back into the backroom. Grillby had already finished the food he ordered, was getting up, ready to try and find Sans. Though he didn’t need to. He already met him halfway his way out of the restaurant.

“thought i’d seen you down there,” Sans noted, his voice sounding casual. At ease. “what’cha doin’ here, hot stuff?”  
“...Thought I’d check out the resort myself some time.”  
“on the _exact_ day an’ time i had my show?” Sans questioned, quirking a brow at him disbelieving.

Grillby hesitated, feeling, and obviously having been, caught red handed. “I… felt left out. Red and Reese’s both have seen you before...”  
“ah,” Sans uttered out, though Grillby couldn’t exactly tell whether he believed him or not from the tone of it. “so? what’cha think? pretty neat stuff, eh?”

“It’s very good,” Grillby admitted. “I had fun. Though I’m surprised.”  
“oh? how so?” Sans questioned, though he had started walking into a direction, motioning for Grillby to follow up with a turn of his head. He lead them to a small corner with couches in the lounge, so they wouldn’t have to take up space in the hallway to the restaurant anymore.

“You… never seemed to be the type to want attention. Fame,” Grillby mused out. “Yet you seemed so content and confident up there.”  
Sans was glancing at Grillby, an eyebrow quirked at him disbelievingly. “you serious?”  
“...What?” Grillby asked, genuinely at loss.

“you seriously- ugh.” Sans shook his head, before burying it in his hands. “y’re insufferable, y’ know that?”  
“What… do you mean…?”  
“ _this,_ ” Sans said, looking up again and gesturing with his hand all over himself. “is wha’ i’ve been telling – no – _preachin’_ you the entire fucking time. you knew me. _ten years ago._ grillby, i _changed_. i’m _not_ that monster anymore. get that in your _head._ ”

Grillby was looking at him, eyes wide in surprise and shock. He didn’t expect an answer, let alone one like this. He hadn’t _thought_ about what he was saying, hadn’t thought it was any big of a deal.

“the sans you knew isn’ _me_ anymore. stop tryin’ to compare him to _me,_ ” Sans went on though, the words starting to sound strained, almost painful. “ _mettaton_ doesn’t do it! he doesn’t- not _once_ did he want my old self, not _once_ did he compare me to him. i’m a _different monster_ now! _he_ gets it, so why don’t you!?”  
Why didn’t he? Why did _he_ have to bring up Mettaton now? The robot had nothing to do with _their_ issues, had nothing to do with any of this, so why was Sans bringing him up now? Just to rub it in his face? Hurt him?  
“Because I’m not Mettaton,” Grillby uttered out, keeping the calm in his voice. “I’m sorry if I did something to hurt you, I didn’t know. But don’t let your unchecked anger out on me.”  
“not on _you?_ the monster who’s been tryna get into my pants since i moved here? who sees me as some sixteen year old kid that doesn’ exist anymore?” Sans listed, obviously trying to not make a scene, keeping his voice low, but still being angry. “you think i don’t notice you watchin’ me all the damn time i come to your bar? you showed up unannounced to my comedy show just to, what? stalk me?”  
“I’m _not_ stalking you.”  
“you’re not,” Sans agreed. “but you’re also damn stuck on something that’s not happening, grillby. move on. i’m not the little kid that was heads over heels for you anymore.”

Grillby was staring at Sans, eyes wide and shocked. He hadn’t expected this, not at all. But the worst part wasn’t the surprise, or how angry Sans sounded. The worst was how he had hit the nail right on the head. The worst was how his words _stung._ Stung so badly, because Grillby _knew_ they were true.

Sans took a deep breath, exhaling it out loudly. “i lost my cool,” he uttered out. “sorry. y’ didn’t mean to start anything.”  
“Sans...”  
“but i think that’s important for you to know. i’ve moved on. seeing other people.” Sans was looking up now, looking right at Grillby. “i think you should, too. for yourself. _i_ don’t care in the end, ‘s not my business, but… yea.”

Grillby didn’t know what to say. What there _was_ to say. Sans was right, but also, Grillby wasn’t sure if he wanted to let go yet. Not completely. Not when Sans was _here_ again, after _ten years_.

“i should go,” Sans finally said, letting out a strained sigh. “thanks for showin’ up. hope ya enjoyed the show.” He got off the little couch, heading towards where the rooms where. Grillby could see the celebrity robot Mettaton himself catch Sans on his way and they ended up going together, talking about something Grillby couldn’t hear anymore.

  
When Grillby went home, he couldn’t sleep.

He thought, of either of them, he’d be the grown up one. Sans was troublesome, easy to ignore his issues and drink them away or avoid them completely. He had spent nights at Grillby’s drinking his brains out. Had spent days cooped up in his room wallowing.

But when had Grillby actually been better? Busier maybe, but better?

He’d been watching the door of his bar, every time it opened hoping it would be Sans. Had been trying to get close to him so hard, trying to gain his trust again. Trying to get _something_ between them to happen again.

Sans had been avoidant maybe, but Grillby’s been obsessed.

But _one_ of them had managed to move on despite that...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't forget that there's an ask event going on on the [fic blog](http://perhapshomo.tumblr.com/) though its atm going slow bc the first ask happened to be HUGE


	15. Live the Night Terror with a Time Error

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, just to let you know! there's an ask event going on [on my blog](http://perhapshomo.tumblr.com/) where you can ask the characters of this fic!  
> there is also a [discord server](https://discord.gg/5FHhkK) to chat with me and comic4244! kinda dead atm but maybe we'll get some more action in there going  
> aside from that, if youre interested in some sweet artwork, im participating in [artfight](https://artfight.net/~gaylie) this year and try to revenge all attacks (including friendly fire)
> 
> that was a lotta news today
> 
> hope you enjoy the chapter!!

“so wha’s the dealio anyway?”

“T-The king ask-asked me to figure out a wa-wa-way to break the barrier...” Sans was nodding along to Alphys’ words as she led him down her laboratory, having already suited Sans’ up in a lab coat. It was good Alphys and Sans shared their short and stout body shape. Usually either of them would end up with a lab coat too big for their size, but Alphys was prepared and hers fit Sans just as well.

“yea, sounds easy enough,” Sans mused out, obviously sarcastic. “so how were ya plannin’ to break the magical barrier that’s been keeping us locked up for a decade now?”

“Ha Ha, Sans, very fu-funny,” Alphys replied, even more sarcastically. “So… you k-know what’s so special about the location the C-Core was built in?”  
Sans gave her a nod, though that didn’t mean Alphys wasn’t still gonna elaborate. So they just spoke simultaneously as they said, “time just works different there.”

There was a small pause, where Alphys gave him a nod, before going on. “I’ve been s-studying this place for the past few mo-months, trying to recreate the e-effect. Control it.”  
Sans eyes widened as the words suddenly clicked, falling into place one by one. “y’re tryna make a time machine...” He muttered out, getting an affirmative nod from the yellow lizard monster.

“Yes! Exactly.”

Sans wasn’t sure why those words captured him so much. Why he felt so strongly about this idea. But something, _something_ about this made him incredibly uncomfortable. Made him feel like this was a horrible idea. Like he _knew_ so from experience, experience Sans hadn’t _had,_ Sans couldn’t even _imagine_ ever having. Hell, a couple of years back Sans wouldn’t even have believed time travel was possible.

“i ‘dunno alph’,” he muttered out eventually. “this sounds kinda risky. don’t think _time’s_ somethin’ you should mess with.”

“W-W-Well, it’s a plan,” Alphys muttered back. “B-B-Breaking the barrier seems… impossible at the moment. So wha-what other choice do we ha-have? Going back and stopping it from ever happening.”

“so le’s say you manage to make the time machine,” Sans continued, his voice exhausted, but he tried to keep it gentle. “then what? you go back an’ tell the president, ‘hey i’m from the future where you managed to ban us all. maybe don’t do that?’ or go to the monster representatives an’ tell them to prepare of a war _we can’t win?_ ” He shook his head, letting out a sad sigh. “’m sorry, alph’, i know y’re tryin’ your best. but i don’t think y’re thinking this through enough.”

And from how he knew Alphys she would apologize. She would stutter out something about how she had thought it’d been a good idea, but he was right and she didn’t think it through.

But Sans knew Alphys the lab assistant. He _didn’t_ know Alphys the royal scientist.

“A-A-And what do _you_ suggest to do, S-Sans?” She countered instead of backing down. “W-W-Wait for everyone to l-l-lose hope? M-m-make this cave our home? San-Sans, we have to do _something_! And right now t-this is our _only_ lead!”  
Sans wanted to argue. Wanted to say something, tell her she was being a fool, stop her _somehow._ But she was right, wasn’t she? Sans couldn’t think of a better plan. So far, no matter how many scientist studied it, the barrier was an enigma to them. It seemed unbreakable. And _this…_ was actually a plan that sounded like it could work. Traveling back at least. Stopping the war? Maybe less so, but… it was a _chance._

Sans let out a tense sigh, running a hand over the back of his skull. “yea, you’re right,” he uttered out. “sorry i doubted you, alph’. y’re the boss for a reason.”

“I-It’s okay, Sans, I appreciate your input,” Alphys replied, shooting Sans a small, nervous smile. “A-A-And don’t worry! I’m s-s-still looking for alternatives!”

She finally opened the door to one of the bigger laboratory rooms, a large desk with several screens on it, blueprints, sketches, notes and math formulas scattered around, both on the desk and the floor. There were a few pin boards on the walls, one of which looked almost like one you’d see in a detective movie, trying to connect the dots of the clues they had, except what was hung up there were facts and results of tests on the time anomalies, as well as what looked like a to-do list of what they still needed to study on more.

“damn, you’ve really got yourself somethin’ here,” Sans said, letting out an impressed whistle.

“A-A mess?” Alphys replied, less impressed, getting a surprised snort from Sans.

“sure. that, too. really, though, looks like you’ve been puttin’ a lotta thought into all a this.”

Sans quickly grabbed one of the rolling chairs, turning it and sitting down so the backrest was to his chest, legs to the left and right of it. “so what’cha got so far, alph’,” Sans asked, making an effort into sounding more intrigued than before. “fill me in. give me the deetz.”

And she did. She told him everything she found out about the time anomalies so far, about how they seem to be bound to a place, yet not exclusive to where the Core was build. How they’ve been reported to show different effects, though most of the time go unnoticed.

“T-T-There’s clues that the t-t-time anomalies might have been here befo-before we got locked up,” Alphys told the skeleton at one point. “T-Though many experts are co-convinced they come from the barrier. There’s been no proof to e-either theory yet. I do see their point.”  
“so which one d’ you believe?”  
“I don’t _believe_ , Sans. I know,” Alphys retorted, letting the words sink in for a couple of seconds, before giving Sans a shy laugh. “I-I-I’m kidding! I-I-I like to think the Core has been b-built in the t-t-time anomalies on _purpose,_ which m-means they must’ve been here before the barrier. Ever noticed how the Core h-h-has sort of just… _always been here?_ ”  
“’t was built by the royal scientist,” Sans replied, mostly out of pattern of habit.

“But w-who were they?” Alphys asked. “W-W-When was it built? When did they live?”  
“huh...” Sans muttered out, crossing his arms in thought. He’s never questioned it that far. Those seemed like pretty obvious questions, but… It’d just never occurred to him that they knew _barely anything_ about that mysterious royal scientist. For all Sans knew it almost sounded like a cover-up story for people to stop questioning where the mysterious Core actually came from…

“so the core’s… got some weird timey shit. on purpose,” Sans summarized to himself, getting small nods from Alphys. “’s there a way the timey anomalies come _from_ the core, rather than the barrier?”  
“T-That might a-a-also be a possibility!” Alphys agreed with Sans, excited to get to talk about this with someone. “Though there h-hasn’t been any actual connection to the t-t-time anomalies and the Core reported yet.”

“so,” Sans mused out, rolling on his chair to glance over Alphys’ pin boards. “wha’s your plan so far?”

They spent the next few hours talking about Alphys’ plan on the time machine, on her studies and scrapped alternative ideas she’s had so far. They both had been completely engrossed in their theories and plans by the time Mettaton showed up a few hours later.

“Alphy, darling, weren’t you going to run your upgr- Oh! Sansy, you’re here~” He cooed the last part out happily, wrapping both of his arms around Sans from behind. Sans put his own hands on Mettaton’s, slightly awkwardly. While he didn’t mind the increasing attention and affection he’s been getting from the robot lately, he never quite knew what to make out of it either…

“S-S-Sorry about tha-that, Mettaton. I-I forgot about tha-that. I was filling Sans i-in-”  
“Oh, darling, don’t worry about it!” Mettaton cooed unperturbed. “That is quite alright! I am so happy to see you two working together~”

He was peeking over Sans’ shoulder onto their screen with a curious hum, before Alphys closed their windows again. “S-So-Sorry Mettaton, but this is c-c-classified information!”

“Awww, Alphy! I thought we were friends!”

“sorry, metts, but she’s got a point,” Sans told the robot with an apologetic smile. “’ad to go through a whole oath an’ stuff. vip deetz.”  
“Awww,” Mettaton still cooed, though he slowly detached himself from Sans. “Well… I suppose I’ll leave you two to it then. Will I see you at the resort tomorrow, Sansy?”  
“yep,” Sans told him with a quick nod. “got a new thing planned for my act.”  
“Oooh, I’m excited about it,” Mettaton hummed as he was about to leave, before stopping himself. “Oh, and Sansy?”  
“yea?”  
“Are you free this sunday?” Mettaton asked innocently.

“uh, yea. should be.”  
“Alrighty then,” the robot cooed self-satisfied. “I’ll pick you up at six, then~”  
“o-oh, ok...” Sans reply was surprised, oddly not having expected that. Though he probably should have.

 

“ _oh no._ oh no, no, _no._ i know what this means!” Sans and Alphys had decided to take a break after their work, mostly spending it chatting and catching up, Alphys having offered him a cup of ramen.  
“I-It doesn’t mean any-th-thing!” Alphys argued, though her face was flustered in a bright red, her voice shrill and embarrassed.

“you askin’ me if my bro’s single _does not mean anything_?” Sans questioned, quirking a very doubtful brow at her.

“I-It’s for a friend!”  
“ah,” Sans replied, nodding as he played along. “an’ lemme guess. she’s about my height. yellow. kinda chubby.”  
“Why are you being so m-m-mean!?” Alphys whined out, clawed hands covering her face as she kicked out with her small legs.

“c’mon, alphy’, y’know i don’ mean to be mean,” Sans replied, though still feeling a little bad. He might’ve overdone it. Alphys was a sensitive one. “i kno’ your type, though. big, tall. strong. c’mon alph’, ‘e’s my _brother!_ ”  
“So? H-He’s not allowed to date a-anyone?” Alphys challenged to Sans’ surprise.

“...no,” Sans muttered out warily. “pappy’s an adult an’ can do what he wants.”  
“ _But?_ ”  
“you’re not-! he’s-! _alphys!?_ ” Sans whined out desperately. “he’s my _baby brother!_ ”

“Uh-huh,” Alphys said skeptically, her arms crossed as she quirked her own brow at Sans. “A-And let me gue-guess. You’re planning on ‘protecting’ h-him forever?”

Sans was glaring at Alphys both defensively but also caught red handed.

“He’s g-going to start dating at _s-s-some_ point! _You’re_ a-also dating!”  
“wha-!? i’m not- mettaton’s just-!”  
“Y-Yes?” Alphys asked, her tone questioning. Waiting.

“i… well...”  
“You’re going on a d- _date,_ Sans. The second one!” The lizard monster told him, her tone more excitedly now. “C-Come on, Sans, don’t hide it! I’m h-happy for you! Never thought you’d be the g-g-guy for dating!”

“what? with _my_ incredible charms?” Sans asked, obviously joking. “aw, c’mon alphys. i’m irresistible.”

She laughed at that, snorting every once in a while as she did so. “O-Oh, yes!” She agreed, clearly sarcastically. “Absolute hot stuff! I-I-I’m jealous Mettaton go-got you before me!”

“oooh alphy’, is that a confession?” Sans cooed jokingly, noticing the bright blush on the lizards face, but knowing exactly that didn’t mean anything.

“You know I’m joking! _Sans!_ ” She screeched embarrassed, hands once more covering her flustered face, as Sans was having a great chuckle.

“i know, i know,” Sans told her, petting the small monster on the back. “don’ worry, alphy’, i know! ain’t ‘xactly your type. or anyones.”  
“W-Well, you seem to be M-M-Mettaton’s type! Which is surprising...”  
“oof. thanks.” Sans huffed out, not actually taking any offense in it. “way to make me feel good ‘bout myself.”

“T-That’s not what I meant, j-j-just… Well...” She gestured with her hand, kind of just all over Sans. “...You know?”

“ _not makin’ it better,_ ” Sans noted, though he was obviously laughing, not taking any offense in it.

“Soo,” Alphys finally cooed though. “How did you e-end up with _M-Mettaton_ anyways? Is _th-that_ your type?”

Instead of a proper reply, Sans just shrugged. “don’ think i actually got a type,” he admitted truthfully. “’s more like. ‘e was there. asked me out. i thought, sure, why not. had fun. he’s fun.”

“M-Mettaton can be f-f-fun?” Alphys asked, though there was obvious joking in her tone. “I’m h-happy for you, though!”

"yea?" Sans muttered out, his voice softer now. "i am, too. 's nice."

 

They decided to make plans after their break. Alphys was neither one of high mobility, nor was she one very comfortable to leave her den, so they both agreed that Sans should go check up on some of the places showing signs of time anomalies, running some tests on them.

Together they made a map of all the reported time anomalies, both for Sans to know where to go once he went, but also to see if there was some kind of pattern to the locations. They couldn't tell anything, though neither were either of them sure if those were already all the time anomalies scattered through the underground. Most likely they weren't.

Alphys meanwhile was to figure out ways and ideas to control the time anomalies, possibly localize it in their 'time machine.' As of right now they would have to build whatever they would build within those time anomalies, most likely the Core, though it'd be also a big risk to both monster's safety and causing damage to the Core.

They were planning to meet twice a week, both to share their process, but also to talk about their next steps or what they found and figured out together.

Sans knew this was going to be a long process. That, at the moment, a time machine seemed distant and nearly impossible. They had no idea how to take control of the time anomalies, how to localize them, how they came to be or how their locations are related to them. But he was still oddly excited about this.

He hadn't worked in the science field for years, had hated his job as a lab assistant. Yet this was still very intriguing.

It definitely had been a long day for Sans, longer than his comedy gigs. Longer even than his old working times. But he oddly didn’t mind. Plus Alphys had promised that this was an exception and they wouldn’t usually take that long on their meetups together.

But really. Sans felt… good about this. Kind of excited. He almost even wanted to stay there longer, rather than to come back home to Snowdin.

 

"What's on your mind, Sansy?" Mettaton asked Sans softly. They were on Mettaton's couch, the skeleton lying back with his hand on the armrest, legs on Mettaton's lap. He had invited him over for dinner and a movie, first time Sans was seeing his house, too. It was in a slightly remote area in the Capital, though the house itself was large and noticeable.

"'dunno wha' you're talking about," Sans replied, waiting for the robot to explain.

"You've been more quiet lately. Are you not happy?"

Sans blinked surprised at Mettaton, letting out a thoughtful hum. He hadn't even noticed he was being that way, though he saw what Mettaton meant when he pointed it out.

"'dunno, guess i've just been kinda distracted since..."

"Grillby?" Mettaton asked, surprising Sans a little. "I saw you two talking at the resort a few days ago..."

"there's nothin' between us anymore, metts, don' worry," Sans assured him, though he got a nod from Mettaton anyways.

"Don't worry, I didn't think there was. Is he bothering you?"

"nah," Sans said, only after a small bit of hesitation. "'e's jus'... 'dunno. hung up on the past."

"...Oh," was what the robot mused out, his tone a little lower than before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I NEED TO STOP POSTING CHAPTERS LATE fgdghbgfdgh


	16. Out of this World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if youve been watching my ask event, there might be smth familiar in this chapter~

“AND SINCE THEY’RE EXPECTING A CHILD, KING ASGORE WANTS TO START THE ROYAL GUARD AS ANOTHER FORCE OF DEFENSE!” Papyrus told them excitedly, both Sans and Mettaton walking through the streets of the Capital as they listened to the skeleton ramble.

“Ohh yes, I’ve heard about that,” Mettaton cooed as well. “The training is supposed to be _very_ tough, they’ll be a league of elites.”  
“I WANT TO JOIN THEM!!!” Papyrus said determinedly, eyes sparkling in excitement. And Sans’ eyes almost sparkled back. Before he deflated a little.

“paps… we already can’t afford police academy,” he told him sadly. “even with my additional income. y’ think ‘s gonna be cheaper?”  
“For a matter of fact, darling, it is!” Mettaton chimed in, though, surprising the older skeleton. But he got an enthusiastic nod back from Papyrus.

“THE ROYAL GUARD TRAINING IS FREE!!!” He told Sans excitedly. “YOU ONLY HAVE TO PASS THE ENTRANCE EXAM!!!”

“It _is_ going to be tough, though. Plus so far it’s only a plan.”  
“huh,” Sans mused out surprised. That was a lot to take in. Not just the fact that there was going to be a royal guard, one that Papyrus could _actually_ get into with their income, but also the fact that the royal couple, _Asgore_ , was expecting a child. He didn’t know how he felt about that.

“SO, HOW HAS WORK WITH ALPHYS BEEN, BROTHER???” Papyrus asked, the eyes now on Sans as Mettaton gave him a charming smile.

“Oooh, yes, I’d love to hear about that as well,” he hummed curiously.

“ah, well. ‘aven’t gone very far with the research yet,” Sans admitted. “though ‘s been kinda fun.”

They had been working together for a week now and the most progress they made was finding out that the behavior of the time anomalies changed over time. They had decided they were going to try to put up devices to record their behavior on a handful of the time anomalies to keep an eye on it. Sans personally was very curious to see if they all acted individually to each other, or if they had a connection, though he wasn't sure yet what he was going to do yet with that information.

"I'm glad to hear you're getting along so well," Mettaton said, though, before bending down to give Sans a smooch. Which was mostly just his screen clanking against Sans while he made a smooching noise. "My little skelly working together with my best friend~ And I get to see you even more!"

Sans could feel himself flush at the attention, not just from Mettaton, but also the monsters around them. One wasn't exactly very hidden when you were dating the most famous robot celebrity, though Sans was starting to get used to it.

There weren't a lot of paparazzi per-say, though still a lot of fans, a lot of curious eyes and a lot of low quality pictures on the Undernet. It was no secret anymore that the two of them were involved. And neither could Sans pretend to deny it anymore.

Papyrus was striving. He was soaking up the attention almost like he was the one dating the robot. He was so proud of his brother.

"OH! OH!!! METTATON, LOOK!" Papyrus said excitedly, pointing towards a small boutique, showing off a brightly colored yellow and orange dress.

"Oh dear, what a cute thing!" The robot cooed immediately, leaving Sans to watch him and Papyrus rush to the store, eyeing the dress from the window outside for a bit, before entering the boutique. Sans let out a small chuckle, before slowly following them.

He hadn't been too keen on 'going shopping' with them at first, though it wasn't like Sans had to be the one trying on clothes this time, he really was mostly here for the company. And it _was_ cute watching both his baby brother and his boyfriend getting excited like that over a dress.

By the time Sans had entered, Mettaton was already showing Papyrus into one of the changing rooms, the bright dress in the skeletons arms. He was waiting outside of it like an excited impatient child, only diverting his attention once he noticed Sans joining him.

"Oh Sansy, your brother will look so adorable in that dress!" The robot gushed, getting a small chuckle from Sans.

"'m sure 'e will."

Papyrus came out again a few minutes later. The dress didn't look as tight on Papyrus anymore as it had on the mannequin in the store window, but it still looked good. It still hugged Papyrus' shape really well, and Sans knew that yellow and orange were his brother's colors. The dress ended a good bit above Papyrus' knees, was sleeveless and exposed a bit of his collarbone. Though really, the most and only important part was how absolutely thrilled Papyrus looked to be wearing it.

Mettaton seemed in absolute bliss, already prancing around Papyrus as he examined the dress from all sides, letting out happy squeals.

"Darling, you look absolutely dazzling!" The robot cooed. "It looks so good on you! Oh! I'll ask the cashier if you can keep it on right away~"

"A-AH, METTATON!" Papyrus called after the robot quickly. "I APPRECIATE IT, BUT... I DON'T THINK I CAN EXACTLY AFFORD IT RIGHT NOW..."

The words, the way Papyrus' voice dropped only the smallest bit, trying not to betray his own disappointment, almost broke Sans' heart. He quickly got up, a hand on Papyrus' arm.

"nah, paps, 've got money now, too. we ca-"

"Sweetheart, do not even worry about it!" Mettaton declared confidentially. "Really! It was my idea to get the two of you out here on a little shopping trip, it'll be my treat~"

"WHA-" "what?" Both of the skeleton brothers asked, though Mettaton didn't wait for either of them to ask more questions or even argue, already talking to the cashier about the dress, discussing the price.

"I... AM NOT SURE HOW COMFORTABLE I AM WITH THAT..." Papyrus muttered, mostly shocked rather than anything else. "THE DRESS WAS REALLY EXPENSIVE!!!"

Yea. Sans was right in the same boat there. But he let out a small laugh, shaking his head. "guess that's mettaton," he uttered out. "we should thank 'im some time, rather than to complain."

"YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT ABOUT THAT, BROTHER!" Papyrus quickly agreed. "I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!!!"

"d'aww."

"YOU'RE SHOWING A LOT OF GROWTH!" Before Sans knew it, he was already encased in a tight hug, the smell of new fabric heavy in his nosehole. "THANK YOU FOR COMING WITH US TODAY!!!"

 

They continued their shopping trip for a few hours and while the robot still got to buy the skeleton a few more things, it was obvious Papyrus was trying not to show too much interest on things, not wanting to use the robot for his money.

It wasn't until a few hours in that Sans started to regret his decision of joining them on their shopping trip.

Not being the one to have to try on clothes? Hah! As if.

Sans was cornered in a store, his back to a clothing hanger, Mettaton and Papyrus in front of him, outfits in their hands, their faces – or lack thereof – looking friendly and kind. Only betraying the predatory behind it.

"that wasn' part of the deal!" Sans said as he tried to figure out an escape route.

"Awww, but darling! We only want to do you something good!"

"YES, BROTHER, YOU'LL NEVER KNOW!!! MAYBE YOU'LL LIKE SOME OF THOSE!"

They were teaming up against him. His own brother and his own boyfriend in cahoots. He should've expected it. It's dress or be dressed in this cold blooded world.  
It was like a blur, but before Sans knew it, he found himself in another changing room, heaps of clothes on the little bench next to him. He wasn’t even sure if he _wanted_ to know what was in those, certainly not if he wanted to _wear_ it, but… They had both seemed so excited…

It was just dressing up a little. It wouldn’t hurt anyone.

He started with the most innocent looking one first, stripping out of his clothes, before examining the first pile. He immediately could tell why this one would’ve been their pick, as he picked up the large, loose, pink Mettaton shirt, putting it on with a resigned sigh. Though at least it wasn’t a suit again, he figured. He put it on together with a pair of pale blue jeans, the fabric torn at the knees, exposing some of his bones. And Sans was almost ready to leave the changing room, showing off the outfit to the two monsters that damned him to this, before moving on as quickly as possible. Had he not noticed the soft, purple hoodie he had dropped at one point. It had a brighter hood and trim, as well as well as a brightly purple image of a soul on the back, which… Sans was not going to admit was kind of cute.

But the hoodie was soft. And warm. And comfortable. And he was not a man to deny comfortable, soft, warm clothes.

He finally stepped out of the dressing room, eyes glancing down to the hoodie as he was testing it for pockets to put his hands into. Bingpot. And they were even softer from inside.

“Well aren’t you a handsome little boy~” Mettaton cooed out, making Sans’ head snap back up as he remembered he wasn’t alone.

“’m the tallest boy, thank you very much.”  
“Oh, of course,” the robot chuckled back, before making a little hand motion to instruct Sans to spin a little, showing off all sides.

He could hear the excited gasp from his brother as well. “YOU LOOK SO GOOD IN THESE, BROTHER!!!”  
“do i?” Sans asked back, pretty genuine. He’s never cared too much about fashion himself. He genuinely couldn’t tell.

But Mettaton and Papyrus seemed absolutely convinced, giving him the quickest, happiest nods. Which kind of made Sans feel… a little better about this.

And then he regretted it.

Immediately.

He was in front of the mirror, not even sure why he had bothered to put this one on. Maybe because he didn’t want to disappoint them. Maybe because he was already in this hell, he might as well go all in. Go big or go home, after all. Though Sans almost wished he had gone home.

It started off innocently enough. While the yellow tank top had a kind of frilly neckline, it was still just a tank top, accompanied by a brown jacket. What _really_ was the problem was yellow – almost orange – skirt that accompanied it. It fitted the tank top both in hue and frills, matching the brown jacket with a dark brown belt. He wore pale yellow knee high stockings underneath, and even fitting brown shoes.

Sans was twenty-seven years old now and Sans has never had to wear a skirt before. He… really wasn’t sure how he felt about this. Not at all. Not in the least.

But Mettaton was asking him if he’d be coming out soon and Papyrus was calling encouraging words over to him and…

Ugh.

The things he did for the monsters important to him really were too much sometimes.

Sans was clearly avoiding any kind of eye contact when he came out of the changing room again, though nothing could spare him from the loud, excited gasp Papyrus let out.

In no time he was on Sans, going around him, spinning him sometimes to get the outfit from all angles.

“BROTHER, YOU LOOK SO CUTE!!!” He said so happily, so excitedly, getting a small chuckle from Mettaton.  
“He does, doesn’t he?” The robot agreed, though he seemed to let Papyrus take the lead on this one. And he did take lead, adjusting the outfit here and there, little things Sans would’ve never even considered mattered, at one point even running off, only to come back with a small, brown bracelet with yellow stones.

He let out an excitable squeal once he deemed Sans finished.

“BROTHER, YOU LOOK ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!!!”  
“Glamorous!” Mettaton agreed.

Sans let out a small sigh, but still gave them a smile. “thanks guys. this isn’ really my style…”  
“Oh, we know it isn’t.”  
“BUT YOU LOOK _SO CUTE_ IN IT!!!” Papyrus lamented. “A REAL SHAME!”

They released Sans back into the changing room, but only after a lot of convincing and the promise he was going to try on the third, last outfit they had prepared. At least it was going to be over soon…

After the acceptable Mettaton shirt outfit and the less acceptable dress outfit, Sans… had about as much of an idea about what the next one could be as a red-green colorblind person about to see color properly for the first time.

... _Kind of_ some idea, but not really.

But the colors seemed darker, which was at least more Sans’ style.

It started off with black leggings, loose black shorts over them. Though the shorts had star shapes on them, some of them connected by lines, imitating star constellations. He wore a pale blue v-neck sweater, another soft jacket over it.

But this time, oh, this time it was even _better_ than just a soft jacket.

It war dark, but colorful, littered in stars, recreating the image of a galaxy. He saw the back of it first, before he put it on, in bright letters seeing the text, ‘OUT OF THIS WORLD.’

Oh, this was perfect. Sans’ grin was almost too wide for his face, and he put the jacket on, feeling an odd sense of pride. He didn’t even care too much about the rest of the outfit – though the shorts were pretty cool – the jacket was simply _the_ deal maker.

There was no way Papyrus had been aware of what he was giving him.

There were curious and excited calls from outside the changing room, and Sans was almost looking forward to showing off this one. If only to see Papyrus' reaction to the pun.

Sans finally stepped out of the changing room, a big grin on his face that only grew as he heard Papyrus' happy gasp.

"OH, METTATON, IS THAT THE ONE YOU PICKED???" His brother asked curiously. "IT FITS HIM SO WELL! BROTHER! IT FITS YOU SO WELL!!!"

Mettaton just gave him a chuckle, which Sans added up to with a cackle.

"oh, you like it?" Sans asked curiously, only cackling even more at the excited nod. "would you say it is _out of this world_?"

"WELL, I DON'T KNOW IF I WOULD USE EXACTLY THOSE WORDS, BUT IT'S- WAIT A MINUTE..." Sans had turned around, holding back the dirtiest laugh as he pointed with both his thumbs to the back of the jacket. He could hear Mettaton letting out a small, suppressed chuckle as well.

"OH. OH!!! I KNEW IT!!! I KNEW THERE HAD TO BE A CATCH!!!" Papyrus sounded outraged, betrayed, which only made _both_ Sans and Mettaton burst out laughing. "I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU WOULD GIVE THIS TO HIM, METTATON! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU JUST LET LOOSE!!!"

"Aww, but Papsi. It's just a gift from one _star_ to another!"

"ayyy, nice one," Sans said over Papyrus pained screeching. "ey, don' forget to breathe, bro. before you get all spacey."

"NO! NO!!!" Papyrus argued. "I AM NOT DEALING WITH THIS! I AM OUT OF HERE!!!"

Sans watched, snickering as Papyrus began leaving the store, glancing after him curiously. "looks like the space ship left the station," he added, this time getting a weaker chuckle from Mettaton.

“That one was bad, Sansy.”  
“aw, c’mon, they can’t all be winners,” Sans justified himself. “sometimes one a’ ‘em just has to go meteor-wrong, or they won’t be special anymore.”  
He could tell Mettaton wanted to complain about this one, too, but the robot simply got interrupted by having to laugh a little after all, proving any argument he’d have against it wrong.

“well,” Sans began after a little bit. “better change back, i s’ppose. can y’ help me put the clothes back?”  
“Oh darling-” Mettaton began, but Sans already knew where this was going.

“nah man, y’ can’t keep buying us everything.”  
“But why not?” Mettaton kept pushing. “Please, I insist! I have the money, and you _do_ look cute in those clothes! Just consider it a third date?”

Sans wasn’t exactly happy about this idea, glaring at Mettaton like it would help somehow. It didn’t, the robot instead just holding his ground, letting out a sweetly, “Pleaaase?”

Sans sighed. “fine, a’right. if it makes you happy.” And it did, Mettaton letting out an excited squeal, which Sans replied with a lighthearted chuckle. The robot put the clothes into a bag quickly, not even letting Sans change, before he already took his hand and rushed them to the cashier.

Sans had gotten a text from Papyrus at one point, letting him know that he had headed home. Also letting him know that he still loved him, even if he was very disappointed in his brother’s punnery. Sans laughed, personally assuming Papyrus had wanted to give them some privacy. It sounded like something his brother would do.

But it was starting to get late anyway, so they were already on their way back anyways, Mettaton being the one to walk Sans home.

Sans never realized it, but the second they arrived back in Snowdin from their ride with River Person, Sans felt at home. There was the sound of children playing, the sound of barking. A lot of barking. No, really, was there someone barking at them?  
Sans looked up surprised, just in time to see Greater Dog tackle him, licking over his face, Dogaressa rushing after him, sniffing the area a bit. “Sans! You’re here!”  
“sure am,” Sans chuckled, trying to get the large dog off him. Or at least his tongue. “y’ needed me for somethin’?”

“Oh! We were wondering if you would come to Grillby’s again this week!” Dogaressa asked, though it sounded like there was a little bit more to it.

“sure,” Sans replied, though. “i’ll be there.” He wasn’t that busy either way.

He finally got Greater Dog off of him, though only since the dog seemed to catch interest in the robot instead, Mettaton seemingly nervous backing away. Sans quickly put his hand on the dog’s forehead, giving him a rub.

“easy, boy,” Sans chuckled out. “not sure ‘e’d like to be covered in your slobber that much.”

The dog didn’t seem offended, instead simply licking Sans’ palm, before pouncing back to Dogaressa.

“We’ve got to go, round up the others,” Dogaressa said, “but we’ll see you at Grillby’s then! Bye!”

Sans waved after them, curiously wondering what they were planning...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> god, you have NO idea how much fun i had writing this chapter!!!  
> shoutout for my lovely bae comic4244 for providing me with the outfit ideas!!!! theyre the best <3


	17. If you liked it, then you should've put a Leash on it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> most cursed chapter title award goes to.... ME
> 
> yea ahahah i truly ran out of chapter title ideas, but HEY  
> THIS IS A CHAPTER EVERYONE WANTED

“Grillby’s?” Mettaton asked Sans after the dogs had left them alone. He had been quiet through their exchange, though seemed curious now. “I thought you weren’t involved with Grillby anymore.”

“there isn’t,” Sans confirmed. “’s jus’ the name of his bar.”  
“But it’s _his_ bar,” Mettaton noticed, getting a surprised, maybe slightly offended side glance from Sans.

“c’mon, man, are ya gonna police me on which bars i go to now? ‘s _just a bar._ the _only bar_ in my town nonetheless,” Sans reminded him, tone slightly harsher. “i like socializing, y’know.”

“Of course,” Mettaton replied, though he didn’t sound convinced, didn’t sound like he realized he was doing something wrong. And he went on. “But _Grillby’s_ bar? Out of every bar you could’ve gone to -”  
“which is only this one.”  
“- you _had_ to go to the one owned by your ex? _Sans,_ you can teleport. You can go anywhere you _want._ ” Mettaton looked so sure of himself, like there was absolutely nothing that Sans could say to prove him wrong.

There was, there absolutely was. Like the fact that teleporting was a matter of effort, often left him feeling weird, and all in all just something Sans liked to avoid if not necessary to get somewhere. The fact that he knew a lot of monsters at this bar that he liked and liked to talk to. That their food and drinks were just really good. That _this bar_ was the place _everyone_ in this town would go to – the town Sans _lives_ in.

But Sans didn’t say it.

“mettaton, y’re being ridiculous,” he said instead. “i ‘dunno why y’re so worked up about this. ‘s just a bar. that my ex happens to own. ‘s not like i go there to flirt with him.”  
“You _said_ Grillby was still hung up on the past. What if he’ll-”  
“then i’ll shut ‘im down,” Sans replied before the robot could even finish his question. “’m an adult monster that can take care of himself. grillby _knows_ i’m not interested.”  
There was a pause, a beat of silence where Mettaton had nothing to argue and Sans had nothing to say. Until something else came out of the skeleton’s throat.

“do you not... _trust_ me?” He asked through the thick silence. And immediately it went from thick to uncomfortable.

“Sans, that’s not it,” Mettaton tried to tell him, but it wasn’t exactly very convincing anymore.

“then what is it? y’re just jealous of _nothing?_ ”  
“ _Yes,_ ” the robot blurted out, surprising both of them. Sans glanced over to Mettaton surprised. “I mean… _No,_ it just… bothers me. You’re right, it’s stupid.”  
“it is,” Sans agreed, hearing the robot let out a sigh.

“I’m sorry. This isn’t your fault and you shouldn’t stop going there for my sake. I just have to get a grip on this...”

“yea,” he agreed again. “’s ok. should get goin’ home though, ‘m sure pappy’s already got dinner prepared.”  
“Of course,” Mettaton said. They walked the rest to Sans’ house in silence, though it was less as uncomfortable than before. They stopped once they arrived, keys already in Sans’ hand, though he didn’t quite unlock the door yet, turning to Mettaton instead.

“’t was nice,” Sans told him, with a small smile.

“I’m… sorry about how i reacted at the end,” Mettaton said again, though Sans shook his head.

“whatever. y’ got jealous. you realized an’ that’s good i guess,” Sans said. “no hard feelin’s.”

“We’re good?” Mettaton asked, voice smaller than Sans usually knew it as, though he brightened when Sans gave him a nod. The robot didn’t need a face for Sans to be able to tell he was relieved. He opened his arm in an embrace, which Sans accepted, before feeling the screen tap against his teeth in an imitation of a kiss. Which was still nice enough.

They broke apart again, still staying close.   
“I’ll see you at the resort.”  
“yep. tuesday,” Sans agreed with a soft smile. “bye metts. be good.” He finally turned to unlock the door, giving and getting a final wave as they parted ways, Sans stepping inside and closing the door behind him. He let out a heavy sigh.

He liked the robot, he really did. And he really enjoyed the time he spent with him, but… it was still kind of exhausting. It just was.

It didn’t take long for Sans to smell the scent of burnt food through the house, a warm smile replacing his exhausted once. He left the bags of clothes at the door as he moved to the kitchen, already seeing Papyrus there in an apron.

“BROTHER! YOU’RE BACK!!!” Papyrus said happily, like he never was mad at him at all. Sans knew well enough that he really hadn’t. “DINNER IS ALMOST DONE!”  
“soun’s perfect,” Sans replied contently, already letting his summoned tongue disappear. He loved his brother dearly, but every monster had their limits somewhere. And Sans’ were at eating charred, burnt food with a tongue summoned.

 

Sans couldn’t sleep the next night, the robot’s words stuck in his skull like a virus.

It was stupid. Mettaton had only been jealous. He knew there was nothing between Sans and Grillby. _Sans_ knew there was nothing between them. And there wasn’t.

He only went to the bar for drinks and jokes with the dogs, not to catch glimpses of the flame, to keep onto that odd feeling of wanting _something_ to happen. _Anything._

Sans didn’t like the feeling these thoughts gave him. Didn’t like how it had him feeling kinda nauseous, wanting to curl up in on himself.

 _He_ was the one to lecture Grillby on not being hung up on the past. God damn it, he was dating _Mettaton!_ He had no point to obsess over the elemental. And he _wasn’t_. He wasn’t. He hadn’t been the last days. Mettaton just had to bring up a sore topic at a sore moment.

Things were okay.

Sans was okay.

He was happy with the robot. He was happy like this.

Happier than he had been when Grillby disappeared. Happier than he had been when he was all alone. Happier than he had been when he was looking for the elemental, not ever seeing a sign of him.

 _Mettaton_ made him happy.

 

Sans almost didn’t want to go to Grillby’s the rest of the week. But he had promised the dogs, had promised Dogaressa he would.

So next Friday Sans was sitting in the bar at his usual spot, him and Lesser Dog being the only ones here so far. He wasn’t sure if he was early or if the others were late, though it felt oddly like the second.

The Dogi were the first to arrive, Dogaressa and Dogamy greeting the skeleton warmly. Doggo soon followed, together with Greater Dog, and a little bit later another, tall grey canine followed up. Sans’ seen them in Snowdin before, but never in the bar…

“Ice Wolf!” Dogaressa called as she waved with her paw towards the newcomer. “So good to see you!”

“Ice Wolf heard there was an important pack meeting,” the wolf spoke curiously, quieting down the other dogs.

Sans suddenly felt weird.

“pack meeting?” He asked surprised. “am i… intruding? should i come back sometime else?”

“No, no, Sans, you’re fine!” Dogaressa quickly assured Sans, before nudging her husband slightly. Dogamy straightened up.  
“Actually, Sans, we were hoping you would come with us,” the dog told him. “There’s a cottage in the Snowdin forest where we keep our meetings.”  
“y’ want me at your meetin’?” Sans asked, slightly wary. That didn’t sound like something Sans _should_ attend... “really, if y’ just accidentally invited me at a bad time, ‘s cool. you go on ahea-”  
“Nah man, you’re coming with us,” Doggo decided, before getting up already. “Let’s go. No time to waste.”  
Huh… that wasn’t very like Doggo. But the other dogs didn’t seem to be bothered by it, all getting up one by one, only Ice Wolf staying behind a little to watch Sans curiously.

“New?” The wolf asked as they finally got up, Sans following as well.

"not really," Sans replied, falling in step with the wolf as they both followed the dogs. "been hanging out with 'em in the bar for a while. y're the guy chucking ice in the water, arent'cha?" He finally remembered where he had seen the wolf before, close to the river connection.

"Ice Wolf's job is to throw ice," the wolf confirmed. "Ice Wolf doesn't know where ice goes, but Ice Wolf gets paid."

"hah. soun's good 'nough," Sans chuckled out, getting a small, barked laugh back.

"You're good friends with dogs?" Ice Wolf asked curiously, Sans giving him a shrug.

"yea, i'd say so. we play poker at the bar sometimes." He wasn't sure how 'close' they were as friends, but... he'd say they were friends at least. Good friends maybe. Can't hurt. "you? don't see you in the bar a lot."

"Ice Wolf is very busy," the wolf told him, voice sounding a little regretful. "Ice Wolf needs to find a replacement to get off work."

"...ah." Oof. That sounded harsh. Sans wasn't actually sure if he's ever seen someone else but Ice Wolf throw that ice.

"Ice Wolf is still part of the pack, though. Ice Wolf tries to come for important things."

"Ey, Wolfy! Sans! Hurry up a little!" Doggo called, squinting at both the monsters as he waved them over. "Don't have all day!"

"We do, actually," Dogaressa called over as well, more softly. "Don't worry! He's just nervous!"

So that's why Doggo seemed kind of off. It didn't explain a _lot_ , since Sans still didn't know what was going on, why he was suddenly going to a canine pack's pack meeting, but... well. At least he knew now that Doggo was, apparently, nervous for some reason.

"y'know what this meeting is about?" Sans asked Ice Wolf, who nodded their head. But didn't seem to have the intention to go on.

"Ice Wolf can't tell you," they said, sounding almost regretful. "But Ice Wolf knows it is a happy reason."

"...ah," Sans muttered out a big awkwardly. Well. At least that probably meant he wasn't in trouble with a dog gang.

He continued to talk to the wolf through the rest of the walk, Dogaressa and Dogamy joining in after a bit, too, chatting about little things, this and that. Sans barely even took notice of the way they were going, until they finally arrived at the cottage.

It didn't look abandoned, though it also didn't look like someone actively lived here. It was clean and in shape, but sparsely decorated, having nothing but a few couches, a carpet, a small kitchen corner with no foods. Most likely since they would only bring foods when actually needed.

"so, uh... y' wan' me to..."

"Make yourself comfortable!" Dogaressa told Sans, immediately, to which Sans gave her a shrug she probably couldn't see. Most of those dogs did not have the best eyesight, Sans realized a while ago.

But Doggo seemed to be already planting himself on one of the couch, looking sort of stiff, almost like he was in a bad mood. Though Sans assumed that was just the... nervousness Dogaressa had mentioned.

Sans followed his lead, also sitting down, his feet no longer touching the floor when he was leaning back onto the backrest. Even without Sans being so small, it was a pretty big couch. Then again, Greater Dog and Ice Wolf both were pretty big monsters, so Sans assumed that was pretty fair.

They all kind of just assembled on the couches, sitting in a circle so everyone could see each other, and the longer this went on the more awkward Sans felt really. Was he supposed to be here? This didn't feel like something that should involve Sans.

But none of them seemed bothered by his presence, so Sans kept quiet, awaiting curiously to see what would happen.

Did they have a pack leader? Which one of them would it be, the Dogi? Or maybe Greater Dog, hence the name?

Sans felt more and more tense the longer none of the dogs spoke, leaving him in the suspense, the dogs just kind of glancing at each other, like they couldn't quite decide on who should talk either. But while it felt like hours possibly, it was only a matter of seconds until Greater Dog let out a small whine, and Dogamy finally nodded, clearing his voice.

"Sans, you have been a good and loyal friend of us for a while now. We, as a pack, have a gift for you."

"wha...?" Sans began, utterly confused, not having expected this. But Lesser Dog was already nodding, before he went on all four, sniffing the ground until he stuffed his snout underneath one of the couches. He pulled out a small, wrapped package, teeth around the ribbon, covering it in dog slobber. With a happily wagging tail he placed it in front of Sans, gaining himself a few pets on the head.

"...thank you?" Sans tried, not sure what to do with this development. But all of the dog seemed to be watching him excitedly, expectantly, and Sans finally figured that they most likely wanted him to open it right now. So he did, ignoring the dog spit and undoing the soggy ribbon, before opening the little box.

And it was like all of this wasn't already confusing enough, because in the box was a dark blue collar, a silver, bone shaped tag on it.

" _what_?" Sans asked once more, his confusion not lifting one bit the farther this went. The longer this went on.

"Don't gotta wear it, kid," Doggo finally said, which _maybe_ relieved Sans a bit. He wasn't sure how he'd feel about wearing a dog collar.

"Check the tag!" Dogaressa added happily, getting a few excited barks from Greater and Lesser Dog.

Sans decided he might as well read over the tag. The front simply had 'Sans' engraved in it, but he could feel more on the back as he held it, so he turned the tag around. 'Snowdin Pack Member.'

"ok," Sans said, his eyes wide. " _what_!? please explain. am i-"

"We decided you deserved to be part of the pack," Dogamy finally explained.

"It was Doggo's idea, actually!" Dogaressa excited, the dog in question perking up at the sound of his name.

"Well, I'm _right_ , am I not?" He said, almost like he took offense in the statement, yet not quite. Dogaressa only nodded happily.

"Like I said," Dogamy continued. "You've been a good friend to us. Trusting, loyal. If you're ever in need for help, the pack will be there for you from now on."

"Ice Wolf hasn't known you for long," the gray wolf added. "But they can tell you are a good boy. Ice Wolf approves of this decision."

Sans' eyes were still wide. It was like he was in shock, looking from one canine to the other.

“are… wait… seriously?” He asked, unable to quite believe what had happened. But the dogs were nodding at him, tails wagging with pure, unchecked joy. Well, at least Greater and Lesser Dog were. The Dogi still seemed happy and excited, though more civilized so. Ice Wolf seemed happy, though more held back and Doggo was just unable to be read at the moment.

“i… wow? wow. i ‘dunno what to say,” Sans finally breathed out, a shocked chuckle soft in his voice. “thanks, you guys. this is… i don’ actually know what this means…?”

It sounded like he was part of some kind of gang now. Were there rules? Obligation? A dress code?  
“Being part of the pack means we’ll be there for each other when we need them!” Dogamy explained, getting a nod from Ice Wolf.

“The pack helps Ice Wolf out when they need help from throwing ice blocks,” the wolf explained.

“The pack helped us move in when we first came to Snowdin!” Dogaressa added, hugging her husband from the side.

“Basically, the pack’s just there to help you out when you need it,” Doggo added. “And you’re there to help us. Like friends, but more reliable. Like a small… family.”  
“ah…” Sans muttered, still in shock. They hadn’t just invited him to their little gang, but to their _family._ This was… really a lot.

“You don’t gotta accept, if it’s too much,” Doggo went on, fixing Sans with a firm stare. Sans knew what he was doing. He was giving him a chance to still decline. To tell them he wasn’t interested. It didn’t seem like Doggo _wanted_ him to decline, but…

They were putting a lot of trust into Sans, at least that’s what it felt like.

But Sans shook his head no at the words.

“y’ guys been great to me even before the pack thing.” He told them genuinely. “’d be helpin’ you guys out pack or no pack. this ain’t no skin of my nose.” He laughed softly, but tried to make his nervous smile seem more confident. “y’ know what? i’m in.”

Sans might’ve been casual about his choice of words, but they were genuine. He meant them, all and every one of them, and if being part of the pack meant being there for a group of monsters that’s been nothing but welcoming to him the entire time, then he had less than no reason to decline.

The dogs seemed happy with his answer, barking and howling in excitement, Greater Dog already jumping towards Sans to cover him in celebratory spit.

They really didn’t have a hint of bad in them, not any of them. Sans felt like he wasn’t going to regret his choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "make sans and doggo have a gang"  
> heres ur gang  
> i wanna get them studded leather jackets that have a paw pad with two bones underneath on the back  
> matching their studded collars


	18. Getting hot and steamy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next weeks chapter may have a delay as i have been lazy theres literally no excuse lmao

It was raining. The sound of water rushing, running down roofs, rain droplets hitting puddles. It filled Sans’ metaphorical ears in a symphony that was both soothing, but also leaving him feeling uncomfortable.

Something was wrong.

He couldn’t tell at first. It was dark, or maybe Sans simply couldn’t tell where he was. But there was no rain. There was no water. He could hear the rain, but saw nothing. Could smell the wetness, but felt none.

It was like it was raining, but not here. Outside the house? Was he in a house? Maybe just a bit farther away, close enough for him to hear and smell, but too far for him to feel and see it. Whichever it was, it wasn’t here.

It was raining somewhere else.

Sans felt lost. Helpless.

He still couldn’t see nothing. Couldn’t tell where he was. All that he could sense was the rain, rushing in his ears loudly. And louder. And even louder. The noise suffocating everything else. Suffocating in general, like it was all there was.

Rain.

He felt like it could feel good. Should feel good. There were no worries. No obligations. Just the soothing rushing of rain and water.

He couldn’t enjoy it.

Sans felt his breathing fasten, like the noise now was suffocating him, taking his breath from his lungs. It didn’t hurt, but it only made him feel worse, made him feel panicked and scared.

 

Sans jerked up, eyes wide, his chest heaving in panic. Despite how dry he felt during the dream, he was drenched in sweat when he woke up.

“...fuck,” he breathed out, a hand to his chest. This hadn’t even been that bad of a nightmare. He shouldn’t feel as shaken as he was. But this wasn’t the first time he’s had a dream like this.

He checked his clock, seeing that it was too early for him to be awake. Though he doubted he could still sleep tonight, so he decided he might as well work on some of his comedy gags, waiting until Papyrus woke up before he’d head off to Hotland to inspect some of the anomalies, fix them up with some reading devices.

He marched into the kitchen like a zombie, notebook clutched under his arm, a pen in his hand. He sat down on the kitchen table, glaring at the scribbles on his notepad grouchily.

He’s been trying to get into haikus, but they were harder than he expected, especially if he wanted to come up with good puns in them. He’s been stuck on them for some days.  
‘ _without its herd the_

_elephant is just so ve-_

_ry irrelephant’_

He knew it worked _technically,_ but it just didn’t feel right. Not _really._ The way it sounded with the syllables was just _not quite right._

Were haikus really the right thing to do? Maybe he wasn’t ready for punetry. Maybe he should do a rap battle with himself. Huh. That sounded like fun. Now he just had to figure out how to rap...

Ugh. Whatever. He just had to seem confident about it. As long as he got that down, and he wasn’t a _complete_ shit show, the crowd would like it.

“BROTHER?” Papyrus voice rang through the kitchen, breaking the silence. He didn’t sound _tired_ per-say, but he sounded a little hoarse, definitely having just woken up. “YOU’RE UP VERY EARLY… DID YOU HAVE THAT DREAM AGAIN?”

Sans didn’t reply at first, eventually giving him a small nod. He held up his notebook. “wha’ d’ you think ‘bout this one?”  
Papyrus squinted at the words as he read Sans’ chicken scratch out aloud. “YOU’RE LIKE MY LITTLE – TOE. I BANG YOU AGAINST ALL – OF MY FURNITURE. WHAT??? SANS, THIS IS REALLY CRUDE AND-”

“’s a haiku.”  
“OH. OH MY GOD!!!” Papyrus had both hands on his face groaning, while Sans was quietly snickering. “YOU’RE INSUFFERABLE!!! HOW ARE YOU MAKING MONEY OUT OF THIS???”  
“’s not like ‘m actually gonna bring this one,” Sans replied with a shrug. “ain’t ‘xactly family friendly. but ‘s a good warm up.”  
“WELL… IT SURE IS SOMETHING,” his younger brother replied as he walked towards the kitchen counter, preparing himself a hot chocolate. They spent the next few hours in silence like that, Papyrus going through his usual morning routine, while Sans was tapping his pen against the notebook.

Only when Papyrus sat down across from his brother, hot chocolate in his hands, while moving a coffee towards Sans, did the younger skeleton finally talk again. “I THINK YOU SHOULD SCHEDULE A THERAPY SESSION AGAIN.”

“ugh,” Sans already groaned, face flopping down to lie on the table.

“THOSE DREAMS HAVE BEEN FREQUENT FOR A WHILE!!!” Papyrus tried to reason. “I THINK THERE’S A REASON THEY’RE BACK, AND _I_ SURE DON’T KNOW HOW TO ANALYZE DREAMS!”

“an’ ya think a therapist can?”  
“YES, THAT’S WHAT THEY STUDIED AND ARE GETTING PAID FOR,” Papyrus replied matter-of-factly. “SANS, THEY’RE _LITERALLY_ THE PROFESSIONALS.”

“i knoooow,” Sans groaned out. “but i don’t _wanna._ ‘s always so uncomfortable and- and- _ugh._ don’ like it when people know more ‘bout me than i do. ‘s scary.”  
“I KNOW IT IS, BROTHER,” Papyrus told him softly. “I’M NOT FORCING YOU, BUT I THINK IT MIGHT BE TIME.”

“yea...” Sans muttered. He rolled his head to the side, so his face wasn’t on the table anymore, though his head still resting on it, against one of his outspread arms. “’ll see ‘bout it...”  
“THANK YOU BROTHER!!!” Papyrus got up, gulping down his hot chocolate quickly, before circling the table to give Sans a big hug, lifting him up in the process. “I’M PROUD OF YOU!!! I ALSO HAVE TO GO, MORNING PATROL!”

“more like night patrol.”  
“IT’S CALLED FIVE IN THE MORNING, NOT FIVE IN THE NIGHT,” Papyrus shot back, before placing Sans down again, already running for the door, putting on his thick winter boots. “BYE BROTHER!!! LOVE YOU!!!”  
“see y’ later, bro,” Sans called back, waving after his brother through the open kitchen door, before Papyrus finally rushed out. Leaving him alone now.

Sans leaned back with a groan. He knew his brother was right, but that really didn’t make the idea of visiting a therapist again any easier.

Sans decided not to dwell on it for any longer than he had to, instead getting up himself. He dumped his now empty coffee mug in the sink, before getting his bag from his room, putting on his hoodie and shoes.

He's already provided all Snowdin and Snowdin forest time anomalies with recording devices, having gone through the majority of Waterfall as well, the only areas left being ones that were off access at the moment.

The only places Sans had left were Hotland, the Core and the Capital.

Despite the Capital being closer, Sans decided to head for Hotland. It was crowded in the capital, and especially if he would run around attaching devices and clearing them off access with warning tape, he'd run into curious people demanding answers Sans did not feel like giving today. Sure, none of what he was doing was illegal, dangerous or even questionable, but people were still curious. And Sans was still exhausted and not in the mood.

It didn't exactly help him that he was officially Mettaton's boyfriend now, too, getting him even more attention.

He headed to the River Person, greeting them with a small nod. He'd talk more usually, but it was that time of the morning that felt like the world hasn't quite finished loading yet. Nothing was real and any interaction was ten times more exhausting than it would feel in an hour or two.

"hotland, please," Sans still managed to say, though, giving River Person a small, apologetic smile when he realized how quiet he was being, how it could come off as rude.

River Person didn't seem to mind, though. They simply nodded to Sans' request, before going off, leading him through the cave's tunnel to Hotland as they hummed their little tune.

"Tra la la," they sang carefree. "Beware the man who speaks in hands. Tra la la."

Sans blinked slightly in curiosity. Their little advice always seemed kind of odd. Out of place. Hard to put. But this one was... eerie.

Sans decided not to dig deeper into it. He knew River Person wouldn't give an explanation if he asked, and he knew that more often than not he'd never run into... whatever they were referring to. If they were referring to anything particular, and not just messing with him.

So he just waited until they arrived at the Hotland river dock, leaving the boat.

"thanks riv'. y're the best," he said, having woken up slightly more during the ride. He gave the monster a small wave, before going on his way, heading for the Hotland elevator.

He was close to Alphys' lab, technically he could come by and say 'hi,' but... he knew well enough that neither Alphys nor him wanted that right now. They were going to hang out again when they would meet up to share what they found out. Right now was their alone time.

Sans and Alphys both needed that some time.

The elevator brought him straight to the second floor of the Hotland cave system. He had a map of the area, marking down the time anomalies. Though that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t have to manage his way through the construction areas, and… Hotland’s practices of travel were not always the most conventional one.

Though they had an elevator system throughout the majority of it, you still had to use steam vents to travel over cliffs and holes, avoiding the deadly pools of magma. It was supposed to be safe, and technically there weren’t any recorded accidents or injuries regarding the steam vents, though… It still seemed kind of iffy to Sans.

He was simply not a Hotland monster, he supposed.

The first time anomaly was at a taller rock, a small mouse hole not too far. Sans brought on the reading decide, a fist sized electronic device. It was mostly meant to be run and monitored from a computer back at Alphys’ lab, but it did have a few simple set-up buttons and a small screen.

He attached the device to the wall they had marked the time anomaly to be at, before securing the small area around it with warning tape.

The time anomalies were… _something,_ for sure. It wasn’t like you could actually _feel_ them, though if you _did_ pay attention, things outside the anomaly area would act… strange. Either slightly faster or slightly slower, sometimes seeming to stop jump every once in a while.  
It wasn’t… _scary_ per-say, though Sans could not deny it was definitely disorienting and even unsettling at times. But the scary thing, the _actually scary thing_ was the things Sans saw.

Not always. Not even often. Though throughout his trip through Hotland, Sans… _noticed_ things.

First he thought it was just shadows, of puffs of steam or smoke from the magma pools. Things Sans saw in the corner of his eyes, that he couldn’t quite recognize, that disappeared when he was turning his head.

But then the flashes, the images, _were_ recognizable.

Figures. Monsters. Just one Sans made out for sure, another one that he _thought_ might’ve been one. But every time Sans turned his head, they were gone.

Sans let out a tense hiss by the time he attached the last device, calling up Alphys. They wouldn’t actually report to each other until their personal meetups, but… Sans suddenly didn’t feel as safe anymore. He needed to hear someone.

“hotland’s covered,” the skeleton said, voice quick.

“O-Oh, Sans?” Alphys asked, and only then Sans noticed his lack of any name stating or even greeting. Oops. “That’s a-a-awesome!”

“yea. uh. alph’?” Sans finally asked, his voice sounding slightly unsettled. “so, what do you know about, uh. disappearing monsters. like, uh...”  
“K-Kidnappings?”  
“no, no,” Sans said quickly. “more like. seein’ monsters. but then not.”  
“Oh.” Alphys suddenly seemed to understand. Like she did, actually, hear about this before. But then she said, “S-Sans, you should drink some water.”  
“...what?”  
“Y-You’re overhe-heating! That h-happens in Hotland q-q-quite a lot! Don’t worry about it,” she told him, like she was trying to make him feel better.  
Though, oddly enough, it did not.

“alphy, skeletons can’t overheat,” Sans reminded her, rubbing his skull a little. Feeling the droplets of sweat on his forehead. Well. He _was_ feeling pretty hot…

“D-D-Dehydration?” Alphys offered instead. “I’m s-sure it’s nothing bad, Sans! J-J-Just take a b-break!”  
Sans felt like she wasn’t taking her serious, but… to be fair. What _was_ there to be taken serious? What Alphys was saying made perfectly sense. More so, at least, than Sans seeing monsters that just miraculously disappear into nowhere. He probably _did_ just need a break...

“y’ mind if i come over…?” Sans asked finally. He knew Papyrus wouldn’t be at home if he ‘ported there, and Mettaton was most likely busy with the resort…  
“Ah, w-w-well...”  
But Alphys wasn’t the type to just spontaneously socialize either…

“nah, ‘s all good, i’ll just-”  
“N-No, it’s alright!” Alphys interrupted him quickly. “J-Just give me ten minutes t-t-to clean up a bit!”

“are you sure, alph’?” Sans asked, sounding a little guilty. “’s cool if y’ don’t want to right now.”  
He didn’t get an immediate response, instead the noise of something falling down onto the floor, followed by a small, startled scream.

“No, it’s really a-a-alright!” Alphys assured him. “It’s just very messy r-right now, I was-”  
“bingin’ tokyo mew mew in your underwear?” Sans asked, letting out a small snort when he heard Alphys’ embarrassed squeal in response. “yea, i saw the live posts. ‘s all chill, alphy.”  
“G-G-Give me ten minutes to get dressed!” Sans heard the lizards still embarrassed voice. “A-A-And to get rid of the boxes of ramen… I-I’ll let you know when I’m ready!”  
“cool. thanks, alph’.”

They ended the call after that, Sans simply sitting down, with his back against a wall, hand wiping sweat from his forehead. A little company – and some water – would really do him some good… Or at least he hoped so.

He knew he hadn’t been waiting for that long, but for Sans it felt a lot longer than needed. He’d been scrolling through some posts of the Undernet on his phone while waiting, trying to distract himself, though the unbearable heat was a pretty good reminder of why he was feeling so uncomfortable.

He didn’t even _feel_ heat that way…

Finally, after exactly eight minutes, Sans got a text from Alphys, saying that she was ready. Sans didn’t hesitate a moment before he already ‘ported over to her lab, startling the poor scientist to a screech.

“Geez, Sa-Sans, warn me n-next time!”

“sorry alph’,” Sans replied, though he didn’t actually sound that sorry. Not that he didn’t care, he was just too distracted being grateful for not being alone anymore, not being lost in that heat anymore.

“W-Well. I got you s-some cold so-soda,” Alphys huffed out, a bit miffed about getting startled like that, though she didn’t seem actually mad. Especially not when the smile Sans gave her seemed so genuinely grateful.

“thanks, alphys,” he said, holding the cool glass in both hands, before gulping it all down. He still couldn’t feel temperature the way other monsters did, though he did oddly feel better. Whether it was the beverage, or maybe just the act of Alphys trying to help him, he didn’t know. But at this point, it didn’t really matter either.

“I-It’s really no problem at a-a-all,” Alphys still assured him, though, before she lead him to her TV, already chattering about Tokyo Mew Mew and the characters of it. Sans knew that, with coming to Alphys’ place at this time, he had damned himself to binge the anime _with_ her. But he really didn’t mind at all.

They were both lying on their stomachs on her bed, watching the old anime on a DVD collection Alphys’ had found in the dumpster and cleaned up enough for them to still work. It was nice. It was relaxing.

He just hoped Alphys wouldn’t be offended if he fell asleep half a season into the anime...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> since this might be the only place where i can reach out for you guys without my girlfriend seeing (not bc they ignore my fic but bc theyre my beta reader so they already know the chapters lmao) i wanna ask y'all for a favor  
> if u happen to follow my girlfriends blog and like their stuff, could u send them some positive asks?? im not asking bc smths going on or anything, i just wanna make them happy any chance i get and i feel like seeing a few ppl tell them that their stuff is great and they wanna see more might do so and maybe also motivate/inspire them a bit!!  
> i also wanna see how many of u know me enough to know who my girlfriend is  
> so yea  
> watch me shamelessly abuse my powers to get to hear my girlfriend talk about the nice asks they got  
> im just a sucker for seeing my girlfriend happy
> 
>  
> 
> also:  
> if my girlfriend happens to read this after all?  
> hi babe this is awkward

**Author's Note:**

> This fic-verse also has a tumblr dedicated to it, which is [@perhapshomo](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/perhapshomo)


End file.
